The Second's Son
by The Lone Swordswolf
Summary: Naruto is the Nidaime Hokage's son, transported to the Forbidden Scroll incident. How will the world handle the second's son. Slightly OP or more so Naruto. NaruHarem
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is just something that has been in my head the last few days. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sad, because I have many great ideas that will go unheard.**

Chapter 1

It was several years after the Nidaime stepped into office. He has led his village for those years as his brother before. To ensure that the village shall be a village of peace and prosperity. The only thing he could never understand of his brother, was the love he had for his family. Tobirama was a bachelor and proud of it. But every now and then, he would have thoughts on what it would be like to have a family of his own. And that is where this begins.

Tobirama stared in abstract horror at his personal Anbu guard. The only kunoichi on the team to be exact. "What?" he asked. "I'm pregnant," she said. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to think on how he would deal with this. He knew how it happened of course. One to many drinks, a fierce spar, and kissing led to what had happened. Even with the alcohol, he could remember it vividly. "If it's that much trouble, then I'll get an abortion," she said and started to leave the room.

It had snapped him out of his thoughts. "Wait!" Her hand was on the doorknob when he called out to her. She turned to see him approaching her. "You are not getting an abortion. Even if I think I'm not ready for something like this, a part of me is excited and wants to see this through. I always wanted to be a dad. Who knows, maybe I'll like being a father." The kunoichi had tears coming out of her mask. She was crying in relief that she can keep the child. She moved her mask and locked lips with her hokage.

**8 Months Later**

"I'LL KILL YOU FOR DOING THIS TO ME YOU SON OF A BITCH! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE MY HOKAGE, I'M GOING TO CASTRATE YOOUUUAAAHHHH!" screamed the nidaimes lover. "Come on honey, push. You're almost there," said Tobirama, trying to ignore his hand being crushed by his lover. "SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO IDEAAAHHH-" she was cut off when she went through some more contractions. A couple more 'pushes' later, and the room was assaulted with the cries of a newborn.

The nurse took the child, cut the umbilical cord, and wrapped him in a blanket. She handed the newborn to the nidaime. He took his son with slightly trembling hands. "Look darling. Our son," he said, happiness alight in his voice. He handed him to her as she stretched her tired arms for her child. "I'm so happy," she said in a tired voice. "He looks just like you," she continued. Indeed the child did. He had the nidaimes hair-style, though it seemed spikier, four triangles on his face (two on each cheek), and his fathers pale-tan complexion. The only thing he seemed to receive from his mother was a pair of yellow-gold eyes and whitish-blue hair.

"What should we name him?" asked Tobirama. His lover, Yukifuri*, looked at her son. "Naruto. His name is Naruto," she said with finality. "A good name," said the nidaime, before he looked at his lover and noticed she seemed paler than a few moments ago. "Honey?" he asked. Her heart moniter went flat as she closed her eyes, still holding onto little Naruto who had begun to cry, sensing something wrong with his mother. "NURSE! DOCTOR! ANYBODY, WE NEED HELP!" screamed the nidaime as he took Naruto.

The nurse and doctors rushed in, trying to save what they believed the nidaimes secret wife. It would be ten minutes later that Tobirama received the news. His lover, the one he was going to actually propose to, Yukifuri, has passed. Over the next few days he was inconsolable. The only thing keeping him together is his son. "Don't worry Naruto," he said, "daddy's here. And he's not going anytime soon."

**14 Years Later**

Naruto had grown into a handsome young man. He wore armor similar to his father, fur and all. The only difference is the color scheme. While his fathers is a pale blue, Narutos had crashing waves and falling snow. It was so well integrated in the armor that when he walked it looked like it was moving. His father spent as much time raising him as he did in his office. He started teaching Naruto as soon as he could walk properly. At a young age, they found out Naruto had three affinities. They were a high water affinity like his father, a high earth affinity, making Mokuton (Wood Release) possible, and a high wind affinity. It was after this that Tobirama had decided to tell his son about his mother.

**Flashback**

Naruto stood before his father. He was at the tender age of six and his training in the elements had just begun. He was here because his father said he had something to tell him. "Dad?" he asked. "Naruto," began his father, "I think its time you know of your mother." Naruto went wide-eyed at this. He always wondered who his mother was. "Your mother was a wonderful woman and a greater kunoichi. She was part of my personal guard. She loved those close to her and defended them greatly. She believed that those you hold close to you are precious, and only when protecting those precious to you will you become truly strong."

"She had white hair that flowed into blue, yellow-gold eyes like yours, a cute nose, full lips a big heart, and an equally big r-*cough*" He stopped and looked at his son for a moment before realizing what he was doing. "Anyways," he said quickly, "Your mother was a wonderful person. And if it wasn't for you, I never would have noticed. I thank you for that. She could be as kind to her friends as she was to cold to her enemies. You see son, she wasn't a native of Hi no Kuni (Fire Country), she was a member of the Yuki clan from Kiri (Mist)."

"She came here after an she was banished by Kiri for showing compassion to her enemies when they couldn't fight. She was found near death from starvation at the gates. We took her in and gave her her 'second chance'. she did everything she could to repay us for our kindness and eventually founf herself as one of my guards. Now what you need to understand is the Yuki clan. They had a Kekkei Genkai (Blood Limit) that gifted those that could awaken it with the ability to weild ice. Your mother could just like I believe you can too. You also have the ability to unlock Mokuton like Hashirama-nii, but you'll have to work hard. Don't take handouts or you'll never get strong. These are the beliefs your mother had and I want you to follow them, but don't emulate them, or you can lose yourself. Understand?" Naruto nodded. "Hai tou-san." Tobirama smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair.

**End Flashback**

As Naruto grew, he learned and trained till he ached in both mind and body. He did have Hyoton (Ice Release) and Mokuton, though the last one was known only to Naruto and father. Naruto had unlocked Mokuton when he almost got hit by one of his fathers moves by accident. And he unlocked the Hyoton when he went with his father to a meeting with the Nidaime Raikage (2nd Lightning Shadow) about a peace treaty. They were attacked by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, the Gold and Silver brothers, when they attempted a coup d'etat. Naruto had engaged both of them and fought them for three minutes before being defeated. Normally this isn't long, but when a second can turn a battle and both were kage-level or higher, it was pretty damn impressive. He had gained their respect and they had gifted him with two of their weapons. One from each.

Kinkaku had gifted him with the Shichiseiken (Seven Star Sword) and Ginkaku had gifted him the Benihisago (Crimson Gourd) after their coup failed. Both weapons had actually shrank to accommodate his size. Only recently could he wield both at the same time. He had even took over as substitute sensei for his fathers team when his dad was swamped with work. He saw promise in all, but there was something off with Homura and Koharu. They seemed almost fanatical about Konoha being the best and Hiruzen almost became like them, but he took care of that with an ass kicking. His father has said that by himself, Naruto is Anbu level and with his weapons and bloodline, he could take the hat, though Naruto saw little interest in it after seeing a whole day in the office.

We now see Naruto standing in the training grounds of his family, drawing something in the ground. From the ground, it looked like a bunch of squiggles all over. But, from the air, or more specifically, the third story balcony of the house, it looked like a finely drawn water dragon coiling on itself. It was a large seal Naruto had come up with from his studies from Mito-bachan. It was an experimental seal and even the theory is shaky at best. What he said it will do, is to seal away a living person in stasis, until release. It would also allow the one sealed inside to absorb chakra from the air to sustain the seal and slowly expand their own chakra. What makes it even better is it also allows the sealed one to hear the ongoings out of the seal. It was made to seal one of their own and send them into an enemy stronghold before being retrieved so as to relay all they learned.

The First Shinobi World War was raging on and Konoha needed an edge. Naruto had just finished when he sees his father come out. "Are you sure about using yourself Naruto?" asked his understandably fearful father. "Yes tou-san. Don't worry, I'm to stubborn to die," Naruto said. His father smiled and nodded before handing his son the sealing scroll that the seal will transfer to. He gave Naruto a hug and stepped out of the seal. Naruto ran through the extensive set of hand-seals when a Kumo shinobi came out of the trees. "Die!" the man yelled. Tobirama reacted by throwing a kunai and impaling it in the mans brain, but it was too late. The seal was activated and the man had scuffed up a couple lines. The seal glowed, Naruto locked eyes with Tobirama, and everything went white.

**A While Later**

Tobirama woke up in the hospital room reserved for the hokage and his family. "Wh-what happened," he asked no one. The door opened and in came Mito Uzumaki. She had a downcast expression. It didn't bode well, whatever it was she was to tell him. This he knew. He only saw this face twice. The first time when Madara defected and the second when Hashirama died. "What is it?" he asked. "Tobi-kun, you should rest more. I'll ge-"

"No! I know that face. Tell me what's wrong. I need to know," he said firmly. She looked down and started to cry. "Naruto's gone," she said. The world seemed to stop. "What?" he breathed out. "When the Kumo shinobi attacked, he had scuffed the ground where one of the lines were. It had erased that part and upset the seals integrity causing it to implode. I'm sorry, truly I am," she said. Tobirama looked down, tears streaming down his face. "Was there anything left?" he asked. She hesitated before nodding. She came up to him and handed him a sealing scroll and a bandana with the leaf symbol embroidered in it. Naruto never liked the headbands, so he had a specially designed bandana that he would wear on his head or to cover his mouth and nose. Tobirama thanked her as she left.

After that day, he threw himself into his work to escape the pain. But he always did have a nagging suspicion, more like a feeling, that Naruto was still alive, though he just thought it wishful thinking. He never knew that Naruto was alive and well, sealed inside the scroll. It was a mix of bad/good luck that had it work. He achieved what he wanted it to in a different way. Instead of being in a pocket dimension connected to the scroll, he was sealed into a plain white area. Problem was that no one could look at the scroll without coming to tears. And since no one was willing to destroy it, it and his bandana were sealed together in the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. All the while Naruto trained inside what he has started to call limbo, never aging, never fully knowing what has happened, nor how long time shall pass.

**60 Years Later**

A young girl with blonde hair in twin pig-tails and wearing a neon orange jumpsuit around the age of twelve was jumping through the trees with the Forbidden Scroll on her back. This was Natsumi Uzumaki and she had just stolen the forbidden scroll so as to pass her make-up exam. All she had to do was to steal it, learn one of its jutsu, show it to her sensei Mizuki and she'll pass. Easy as pie. Security was lax. The Hokage had gone off for one reason or another and being ignored by the secretary and Anbu in the tower made this even easier. She landed in the designated area and unrolled the scroll. "Shadow clones? Damnitall. Of course it would be my worst subject. *sigh* Guess I'll just get this over with," she said to herself.

**Two Hours Later**

Natsumi was lying on the ground panting with a smile on her face. She had succeeded in completing the Kage Bunshin. She took a breath and decided to purse through the scroll to see if she can find anything else. She skimmed through it till she almost reached the bottom. "Dang. Nothing else?" she wondered to herself. That was when she reached the bottom. There was a picture of what looked like a water dragon coiling on itself. There was a warning that she ignored that told all that this was a seal containing items of a very respected individual and should be left alone.

She had read up to the part of the respected person then stopped. She touched the seal to get it to open but nothing happened. She frowned and tried again. When nothing happened, she thought back to the only time sealing was discussed. _'What did Iruka-sensei say again?' _she thought. 'To activate some seals, one needs to channel chakra into it', came Iruka's voice. Nodding to herself, she touched the seal again and channeled chakra. There was a poof, some smoke, and the sound of an item landing on the floor. She coughed and waved her hand to disperse the smoke. When it had cleared, she found another scroll with a a blue bandana wrapped around it.

She picked it up and unwrapped the bandana and unrolled the scroll. There was a seal on this scroll as well. She shrugged and added more chakra to see what this scroll contained. There was another poof, more smoke, she feared for a second of secondhand smoke, and a thud. She waited for the smoke to clear and when it did, she had an atomic blush. There lying on the ground was Naruto Yuki Senju, though she didn't know that. He was unconscious. She made sure that he was asleep and not dead, just in case. She had started to weave her fingers through his hair, enjoying how soft his hair is.

She was taken out of her thoughts when Iruka came into the clearing. "Nastsumi! What do you think you are doing?!" he yelled. "Kyah!" she screamed in fright. "Oh, it's just you Iruka-sensei! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Besides, I'm here for the make-up exam." Iruka was startled at what she said. "Make-up exam?" he wondered aloud. _'Well she seems to have been training,' _he thought. Indeed she did, what with her slightly messed up hair, scrapes, and dirt smudges. "Natsumi-chan, what are you talking about. There's no make-up exam."

"Of course there is. Mizuki-sensei told me all about it. Now you want to see my new jutsu?" she said. "Mizuki?" he asked, before the sound of wind being cut sounded. Iruka knew this sound well. He threw himself in front of Natsumi as several shuriken imbedded themselves into his back. "Gah!" He stumbled from the unexpected pain. He turned to see Mizuki standing there, twirling a fuma shuriken. "I didn't expect to see you here Iruka. It's to bad, if you had just minded your own business then you wouldn't have to die."

"Mizuki! Why are you doing this?" Iruka shouted in confusion. Mizuki laughed. "Isn't it obvious? To kill the Kyuubi bitch and gain power. Is there any other reason?" Iruka couldn't believe it. His best friend betrayed their village and their friendship. Worst, he took advantage of a young individuals need for acknowledgement by using them to get what he wanted and leaving them with the blame. "Now do me a favor and DIE!" Shouted the traitor at the end. Iruka closed his eyes, waiting for the end. When nothing happened after a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see an armored person holding the shuriken through the hole and yawning.

Everyone was stunned. Natsumi because she was sure he was out of it, Iruka and Mizuki because they didn't notice him. The newest person to this fiasco snapped his jaw shut and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He took quick stock of the situation and came to his own conclusion. "Let me guess," he started, "someone got power-hungry, used someone else, and it now has come to the climactic clash." When no one moved for the first few seconds he asked, "Am I in the ball park?"

Mizuki snapped out of it first and sneered. "Why are you helping her?" he asked, pointing at Natsumi. Naruto just looked at him oddly. "Is there a reason I shouldn't?" he asked. Mizuki laughed at this turn of events. "So you don't know. Well then, I guess I'll do my job and teach you." Iruka caught on fast. "Mizuki don't!"

He was ignored. "Twelve years ago the great Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine Tailed Fox) attacked Konoha. We threw everything at it, but nothing worked. That is when the Yondaime appeared on the battlefield and fought the demon. But despite what the kids are told, the Yondaime couldn't kill the fox. No one could. So he sealed it away into a new born baby girl. The only baby born that night." Here he points at Natsumi. "YOU! You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune, sealed away by our beloved Yondaime. He weakened you by placing you in a human body so that we can finish what we started. But the blasted Sandaime was manipulated by your illusions and has forbidden anyone from harming you. But not tonight! I will finish what the forth started and kill you. DIE!"

At the end he threw his last fuma shuriken at Natsumi, who stood stock still at what was revealed. Iruka was about to take the blow for her, when Naruto intercepted it again. "That'll be enough of that. Apparently you should have studied seals if you actually believed what you just said. But I can see that you won't be dissuaded from your beliefs, so I shall end this farce," he said firmly. Before Mizuki could taunt him on how he could finish this, Naruto disappeared and reappeared behind him with the fuma shuriken folded and rammed through his sternum. His body fell and Naruto jumped down. "Now," he began, "I believe that introductions are needed."

**AN: This is another challenge fic. Antone can take it up, just PM me for permission.**

**Rules:**

**1. Narto is the son of the Nidaime and is transported to when Natsumi has stolen the scroll.**

**2. He has affinities for earth, wind, and water. Him gaining Mokuton or Hyoton is up to you.**

**3. It has to be a harem with Natsumi being the main girl. How many girls is up to you.**

**4. Have fun with it.**

***Check profile for pic of Naruto's mother.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I sadly do not own Naruto. Hmm...Shame.**

**Welcome one and all to another segment of The Second's Son. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2

"I guess introductions are in order," said Naruto. Natsumi and Iruka were still in shock at what had happened. "Hello?" asked Naruto. _'It's like they've never seen something like this. What the hell has happened while I was gone?'_ he thought. He didn't have much time to ponder when an Anbu, obviously female, with a neko (cat) mask appeared. All eyes turned to her. She observed the ones she was sent to retrieve and noted that Mizuki was dead, a fuma shuriken impaling him. She turned back to Iruka, seeing as he is the highest ranked person that she knew on the field.

"Iruka Umino, what has happened?" she asked. Iruka relayed what he had seen and heard after he had arrived. Neko nodded and ordered two of her subordinates to come out of the trees. "Tora (tiger), take Umino-san to the hospital to get his injuries treated. Hebi (snake), take the forbidden scroll and head to the tower. I shall take these two to the hokage for his judgment." The two nodded and carried out their tasks. She placed her hands on the two kids and **shunshined** to the hokage tower.

They arrived to see hebi hand the scroll over to the hokage who nodded in thanks. He turned to see the newcomers. Neko had no expression thanks to the mask, Natsumi was nervous and angry, but it was the newcomer who drew his attention the most. He had a horrified expression on his face. "Can I help you young man?" he asked. "Hiru-chan, why are you so old?" asked the young man. Neko choked on her laugh, Natsumi had burst out laughing, and Hiruzen was ticked at what he was called. But before he could refute, he paused to think. _'Hiru-chan? Only Tobirama-sensei called me that. Him and his s-'_

"No. it couldn't be possible. Naruto-sensei?" The proclaimed Naruto smiled. "Well it's good to see your age hasn't affected your mind Hiru-chan. Now-" He was cut off when Natsumi burst out. "Wait a minute. Old man, how do you know uh…Naruto?" she questioned at the end, to receive a nod. Hiruzen sighed and lit his pipe. "Along time ago, when I was just starting out as a genin, my sensei was the nidaime hokage, Tobirama Senju. What no one knows, more like don't remember, is that he has a son. Naruto-kun here. He even served as a my teams sensei when Tobirama-sensei was to busy with his duties as hokage. He was…powerful. There is no other word for it."

"By the time he was ten, he could take on most of our Anbu. When he was eleven, he had faced and held off for three minutes, the Gold and Silver Brothers, earning their respect. By the time he was twelve he had mastered water release and was an expert with ice release. When he was fourteen, he was a force to be reckoned with. He had beat me down every time he believed I had become to big for my britches. I believe I still have the scars to prove it. He had 'disappeared', believed to be dead, when he had tried an experimental seal that was messed up by a surprise attack by a Kumo shinobi. No one knows the specifics, but after that Tobirama-sensei had shrunken into himself, before getting his luster back a year and a half later saying that you were still alive. I'm going to be honest, how did you survive? In fact, how are you the same age?"

Naruto had smiled through the explanation, snickered about his 'teaching methods', became downcast about his father, then settled on a slight grin. He then took the time to explain what had happened, but left out that he heard everything that was in hearing distance of the scroll and the fact that he has continued to train to where he is now probably equivalent to the actual Sanbi in chakra capacities.

Hiruzen sat back and thought. "You know," said Naruto, "what needs to happen, correct?" Hiruzen sent him a questioning glance. "Remember, even for all my power and skills, I was still a genin. And now this one," he points at Natsumi, "has just made genin, so I 'suggest' you put us on the same team. Understand?" Hiruzen was going to refute him, but caught the look in Naruto's eyes. It was the look he has only seen when he was going to get a beating. "Give me one good reason why Natsumi should become a genin."

Naruto immediately says, "From what you have told me, the one that I killed, Mizuki, was one of her teachers. And he used her as a pawn in his scheme to get the scroll. It appeared to me that he first needed Natsumi-chan here to fail first so that she would be willing to do almost anything to become genin. I wouldn't put it past him to have tampered with her test so she would fail. Tell me what the graduation test is and I'll point out where he could've struck." He listened intently as the graduation exam was explained, never changing his stoic facial expression.

The first words out of his mouth was, "What. The. Fuck. How the hell does knowing what Hashirama-jii's Mokuton do effect someone being a ninja? And how the hell is your entire graduation come down to three jutsu? Your training barely trained tour guides is what it sounds like. Your taking kids, do the minimal amount of training then throwing them out into the world without a word of warning. Who the hell is in charge of the curriculum?"

"The council is," said the third. Naruto gives him a scandalized look. "Why!? Why are civilians dealing with shinobi affairs? Why are the in charge of a NINJA school? What were you thinking?" Hiruzen looked down at what he said, because he knew it was true. "After the Kyuubi attack, the council took advantage of the small moment between the fourths death and my reinstatement to pass laws to give them more power. By the time I came back into office, it was to late."

Naruto gives him a good long look, then says, "The repeal them. Don't give me that look. You should know that the council cannot pass any law without the hokage's approval. Your word is law. They are only there to advise you, not rule over or beside you. It's apparent you have grown soft over the years." Hiruzen just looked at him for a second before slamming his head on his desk. "Anbu!" he called, head still firmly planted in his desk. "Call a council meeting. Tell them they have ten minutes or they are off the council immediately." The Anbu saluted and left to get their 'charges'.

**10 Minutes Later, Council Meeting Room**

The room was alive with the various chatter from the councilors. They were all wearing various sleep wear because of how late it was and how quickly they were summoned. The hokage came through with his pipe alight and a fire in his eyes. He ignored everyone till he sat in his chair. Once settled he set his pipe down and silenced everyone with a burst of chakra. When he was certain everyone was settled he opened the floor.

"Excuse me Hiruze-" said Homura before being silenced by a blast of KI. "That's Hokage-sama to you, understand?" Homura nodded before rectifying his mistake. "Excuse me Hokage-sama, but why are we here?" The third leaned back in his chair with a smile that just promised pain. "I'm glad you asked. It has come to my attention that some people have abused their powers. And so, I have come to rectify that mistake. All laws passed between the time of the Kyuubi's attack and my reinstatement are henceforth null and void. Everything that deals with shinobi are to have no influence from the civilians. The civilians shall no longer have the ability to pass laws without my approval. And finally, my advisors are to be as stated, advisors. They will no longer have the ability to vote on matters."

This caused a huge uproar. There were various shouts and obscenities thrown across the room. Hiruzen watched as the room devolved into near pandemonium. Finally getting annoyed he blasted his KI again, silencing everyone. "Hokage-sama, you cannot do that. Who has told you such lies?" shouted Koharu. Sautobi chuckled. "Of course I can. The only person who's power is greater than my own is the daimyo. And as for who reminded me of that fact, well I'd rather think he would like to introduce himself."

The doors swung open and in stepped Naruto with Natsumi hugging his arm. She was always fearful of the council because of their constant attempts to kill her or have her imprisoned. "Who do you think you are? You should know your place! And why is that bitch on your arm?" shouted a pink haired woman from the civilian council. Naruto stared at all impassively, before speaking. "I do not believe that you have the floor, ama-san (bitch)."

Tsume had to bite her fist to keep from laughing as all other clan heads either chuckled or tried their best to not do so. The pink haired woman went red in the face. She was about to screech at him, but was stopped when the third released more of his KI. "It is my pleasure to introduce Naruto Senju." That lone sentence caused everyone to shut up. An actual Senju was here. And best yet, he was young and impressionable. This was their chance to get higher in life, to climb the social ladder. All they had to do was convince him to marry one of their daughters. This was the thought shared by all, even the clan heads. They may all be friends, but they still desired to make their clans even greater.

"If what you say is true," said a one-armed, one-eyed man, wrapped like a mummy, "then I propose that he be placed in the CRA (Clan Restoration Act). Let's put it to a vote. All for?" He raised his hand as did almost everyone else. The only one who didn't was the third. "Motion passed. Now onto who he will be paired wi-" The man was cut off when the third, once again, flared his chakra. "Do I have to keep doing this? Huh? Because let me tell you, it's not easy when I keep getting ignored every five seconds. Are you done? No? Well to bad. If I remember correctly, I was left in charge of all Senju related affairs after Tsunade left. So the decision isn't up to any of you. And my decision is to let Naruto here decide."

Everyone stared at him for his outburst. Everyone shocked that he would deny such a thing. Doesn't he realize that they need more Senju. Konoha as a whole has lost most of its power with the loss of the Senju and recently, the Uchiha. There were only two Uchiha left. Mikoto and the younger sibling after Itachi was done. Mikoto wasn't here because everyone is to scared to wake her. The last bastard to wake her was turned into a woman.

Clapping was heard and all turned their attention to Naruto. "Well said. And as for my choice, I will decide later. I'm to young to be making such a decision as of right now. Maybe later on, I'll accept, as for right now, my answer is no."

Senju-sama," started the pink haired one, "you must understand. There needs to be more Senju around. With the loss of the Uchiha in recent years and there only being one other, infertile, Senju makes you the prime candidate to bring us back to our glory. Besides you shouldn't be hanging out with that… that… thing, it's unbecoming of you. Surely you know of what she holds?"

Natsumi was downtrodden at the thought of losing her newest friend. "I know," said Naruto. "And I do not care. Obviously intelligence levels are dangerously low if you believe she is a towering fox with nine tails. Do any of you see a single tail? How about her being bigger than the monument? Is she in any way releasing copious amounts of youkai? No? Then shut up. I am seriously disappointed in how things are. Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sama would be ashamed at how far this village has fallen. The only thing that could make this worse is if you had physically harmed her."

Natsumi's face was alight with happiness, while the various clan heads were now downtrodden at what he said. They may have not of actively ignored her, but they didn't help her either. The civilians were angry at what he said, but tried to keep themselves from doing anything rash, or risk their chances of getting him with their respective daughters. The elders were stoic, but were inwardly sweating. They had just realized who it was that was standing before them. So has the crippled mummy man, Danzo. He was cursing because he knew that all plans and plots to get the now Senju heir would be foolhardy. And if he has taken an interest in the Kyuubi's jinchuriki, the she would be out of reach.

'_However,'_ he thought, _'it may not necessarily be a bad thing. If he somehow unlocks the Mokuton and befriends her, then I will not have to worry about her turning on us. True, she'll be out of my grasp, but this would be better for the good of Konoha. That, and I am not anxious for another beating like he gave me all those years ago.'_

"Alright," said Danzo, "you will not be forced to partake in the CRA and far be it from me to deny you from 'hanging out' with who you choose." Everyone was startled. The clan heads and hokage, because they thought he would fight tooth and nail to get the Senju heir. The civilians and the elders, because he gave up so easily. Naruto just nodded. "Very well," said the third, still eyeing his rival, "Naruto and Natsumi have become genin. Naruto, because he helped oust a traitor and Natsumi because I have found proof that her tests and grades were tampered with. Be at the academy in a week for team placements." Naruto gave a nod and Natsumi beamed, then the two left.

After the council was let out, the elders turned to the third. "Hiruzen," said Koharu, "is that who we think he is?" He nodded. "How is he here?" He stood up and turned to the window. "His seal worked. It had worked perfectly, but no one could look at the scroll that contained him without falling in sadness. We actually have Natsumi-chan to thank for his release. If it wasn't for her and her innate curiosity, I doubt he would've ever been released. I'm going to put them on the same team. Natsumi seems especially attached to him since he doesn't care about her being a jinchuriki."

"That's another thing," said Homura, "why have him as a genin when we all know how powerful he is?" Sarutobi chuckled knowing it's the truth. "He requested it. It seems that he has become protective of Natsumi-chan, though he doesn't show it. Konoha bes shape up soon, otherwise they'll all receive a massive ass-kicking from him." The three groaned knowing it's true. Whenever someone was acting like they shouldn't, or more importantly piss him off with it, he would beat them down. "I wonder how he'll react to young Uzumaki's living conditions," said a thoughtful Danzo. The three became pale and said at the same time, "Oh shit."

**With Naruto and Natsumi after they left**

Naruto was being led by the arm by an extremely happy Natsumi. He let her drag him through the streets as he took in how Konoha has changed. He was pleasantly surprised that barely anything has changed since his sealing. He was kind of ticked how the streets had trash everyone, then noticed that it seemed to increase as he was being led along further. "Natsumi-chan, where are we going?" he asked.

She turned to him and flashed him a smile, though he could tell it was slightly forced. "You're staying with me since you don't have a home silly," she responded. She then turned her attention back to where she was going, thus missing his frown. Another five minutes landed the two outside a ratty apartment building. Naruto was frowning heavily now, but Natsumi didn't notice. She led him up the stairs, which almost gave out on four separate times, and took him into her apartment.

He looked around, taking in the trash everywhere, the mold spots, and the furniture that should be in a garbage pile than a home. He noticed how she went around with practiced ease, his face now in an almost permanent frown. "Well," she started, "it's not much, but it's home." He took one more look at the apartment. He shook his head, his mind now most certainly made up. "You're not staying here Natsumi-chan."

"Huh. Why not?" she asked. He gave a derisive snort. "Look at this place. The stairs nearly gave out on multiple times, there's trash everywhere, mold on the floor and walls, and the furniture is rubbish at best. This place is falling apart at the seems. No, you are most definitely not staying here." She frowned as he pointed out all the flaws in the place. "But where else will I stay? Not many people are willing to stay at their place, and even if they are, they'll charge so much money for one night that it would be like a month in a hotel."

Naruto almost growled at what the people have done. "Natsumi-chan. I know what I will ask probably will be difficult for you to answer, but I need to know, what has happened to you?" Natsumi suddenly became depressed. "You really want to know?" He nodded. She sighed and told him. She told him. She told him how she was kicked out of the orphanage at four, how she starved for days at a time, how no one would help her as if she didn't exist, and how she would get an occasional beating. Occasional meaning once every two weeks. They were put into prison, but were bailed out by the council not even five days later.

He growled at how low the village has fallen. He was happy that was the extent of it. He would've had to drown Konoha as a whole in a maelstrom of tsunamis, glaciers, and forests. He gave a deep sigh. "You'll stay with me. I'm a Senju remember? I have access to all my clans grounds, houses, stores, and any other thing that has been bought by my clan or is funded by it. Gather anything that is salvageable and meet me outside in five minutes." She gave a nod as he left.

True to his word, they met outside in five minutes and he **shunshined** to his clan compound. He cut his hand without flinching and placed it on the gates. After a minute they swung open granting them access. He took Natsumi's hand, not noticing as a blush spread across her face. He opened the main buildings front doors and took her inside. Natsumi was amazed. From what she had heard, the Senju compound was abandoned and yet it still looks like someone has been living here.

Naruto turned to her. "Choose any room that is to your liking. I will stay in the master bedroom. Tomorrow I will give you tour of the place. Rest for tonight, you've had a trying experience tonight." She wanted to protest, but a yawn cut her off. She gave an indignant huff and went up the stairs. He shook his head and thought, _'This will prove most interesting.'_

**A Week Later, Academy**

Naruto was being led by Natsumi again to the classroom. He was a bit eager to see the next generation of this villages shinobi. They heard the man Naruto recognized as Iruka giving some grandiose speech. Before he could do anything, Natsumi kicked open the door and dragged him into the classroom. He stood up fully and sent her a mock glare, then turned his attention to the class to see that they had all eyes on him.

No one, not one of them looked like they would last a day as an actual shinobi. Oh he knew these types well. They were the kind that thought being a ninja was going to be full of riches and fame. He snorted at their pitiful attempts to characterize him. If he was easy to read, then he would kill himself. He expected nothing less than his 100% in everything he did. He knew that life will hit them hard, and _that_ is when they can prove their mettle.

"Class," said Iruka, "welcome are last graduates." The class erupted in a frenzy. "Hold on," shouted a wild looking boy with a puppy, "how come that guy got to skip the academy and still graduate. And how is the deadlast here?" Iruka sighed. "Natsumi is here because I have found evidence that her tests were tampered with. So, she was given a second chance and passed. As for Naruto here, he is a special case. If you have any complaints, take them up with the hokage." Naruto gave a nod as a sign of respect at how the chunin was able to handle the situation and not reveal anything that he wasn't supposed to.

He and Natsumi sat in the back, away from everybody. He raised an eyebrow at this, but considering that she is the current jinchuriki, she was most likely bullied or shunned by her peers because the adults told them to. He examined all those that had a chance to actually make it, if they took this seriously enough.

First was a brunette girl wearing a blue shirt, white shorts, and a pair of those sandals he has been seeing every shinobi wearing. She was apparently from the Uchiha clan because of the symbol on her shirt. Next was a shaggy, brown haired kid with glasses wearing an oversized coat. From what he has learned from his meeting with the Sandaime, this was a member of the Aburame. He couldn't tell if the kid was a boy or girl. Last was a pale skinned boy with a fake smile, too small clothes, and a large scroll. All the others lack the drive to advance and will probably die on their first C-rank mission.

He tuned back in to here the team assignments. The first six were unimportant as they were filled with kids that lack motivation or fan-girls. "Team seven will be compromised by…"

**AN: Ha! I'm evil. Who will be on Naruto's team? Who will be their teacher? Is Shino a boy or a girl? You decide.**

**Vote on Shino's sex. Vote on the poll.**

**Now for the sensei. Will it be Kakashi, Fem Kakashi, Yugao, someone else? Vote in the reviews.**

**As for the team placements, well, kukuku, it has already been decided. **

**Remember, if anyone wants to take the challenge, PM me. **

**Also I want you all to check out New Holder of the Wrath by Tremor230. It is really goos and it's not recieving enough love for it.**

**One last thing. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!**


	3. Chapter 3: Team Assignments

**AN: I do not own anything. Depressing.**

**Appears in a waffuru-shunshin(waffle body-flicker).**

**Swordswolf:Hello and welcome everyone. My arrival was thanks to a reviewer, and you know who you are. I have to say thanks to you all. I never thought that any of my stories would be so popular. My first story has over 200 reviews. And this is even more popular. So I want to say thank you.**

**Alright, that's enough mrlo-drama, let's start the show!**

Chapter 3

"Team seven is consisted of Sakura Haruno, Sayuri Uchiha, and Sai Shimura. Your team sensei is Kazumi Hatake (female Kakashi everyone)," said Iruka. Sakura screeched at being on the same team as her 'idol', Sayuri groaned and slammed her head on the desk, and Sai just smiled his weird smile that gave most people the hibbidy-bajibbies. Naruto cocked an eyebrow and thought, _'Danzo…reproduced? Never thought I'd live to see the day.'_

"Team eight will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hotaru Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." Kiba gave a howl of approval on being the only boy on an all female team. Hotaru's eyebrow twitched knowing she is on a team with a pervert. And Hinata looked down at not being on the same team as her crush. Naruto just looked at her, eyebrow still raised. _'So, the Hyuuga stalker isn't on Natsumi's team. Good. Now I won't have to worry about her trying anything.'_

"Team nine is still in circulation. So team ten will be Ino Yamanaka, Shika Nara (female Shikamaru), and Chouji Akamichi. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi." Ino banged her head on the desk for being stuck on a team with, in her own words, lazy ass Shika and fa-I mean big-boned Chouji. Shika snored and Chouji was happy being on the same team as his best friend. Naruto palmed his face. _'From what I have learned this past week, that would be the new generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Not good, they're overspecializing the teams. So far we have the traditional assault team, tracking team, and now the capture/interrogation team.'_

"And finally, team eleven will have Yakumo Kurama, Natsumi Uzumaki, and Naruto Senju." At Naruto's last name, the class erupted into a chorus of mutterings, gossiping, and yelling. Kiba stood up quickly. "How the hell is he a Senju? I thought they were all dead." There were various agreements from the class, mostly the boys because even though Natsumi is the deadlast, she is considered one of the prettiest girls in the class and they were jealous at how much attention she was paying Naruto. And it was true, the entire time since their arrival, Natsumi has not taken her eyes off Naruto.

Iruka tried to quell his rambunctious class before doing his signature jutsu. "**Akuma no Atama Jutsu (Demon Head Technique)**. SHUT UP YOU BRATS! Now as I was saying, team elevens sensei is Yugao Uzuki. Now, if you have any complaints, take it up with the Hokage. Good luck in your careers as shinobi." Naruto gave a snort. "Like they'll actually survive," he muttered. But it seems Kiba heard him. "What was that loser?" he growled.

Naruto gave him a flat look. "Do I have to repeat myself? *sigh* I said, like any of you will survive." This earned him glares from almost everyone in the classroom. But before they could say anything, the sensei's entered and started to get their teams. A man with short cut, shaggy black hair, a beard, and smoking a cigarette called out. "Team ten, your with me." A woman with flowing black hair, crimson eyes, wearing some make-up and an outfit that's seems to be made out of bandages spoke next. "Team eight, follow me."

Soon enough, all that was left was teams seven and eleven (Mmmm, icee). Sakura became ticked that their sensei hasn't showed up yet and started to screech about it. Sayuri brooded, but kept shooting glances at Naruto, only to turn away with a light blush when he looked at her. Sai was…being Sai. Natsumi finally exited her thoughts, which will remain forever undiscovered for my own sanity, and noticed the current situation. "Ne, ne," she said to get Naruto's attention. "Where's our sensei Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed and looked up. "There she is," he said flatly. Looking up, Natsumi found a kunoichi with long purple hair, red lipstick, brown eyes and a red tatoo on her right shoulder (Anbu tatoo). "So you finally noticed me," said their sensei. "No," Naruto said with a slight yawn, "I was just waiting for you to show yourself." Their sensei looked surprised. She knew he was good, but didn't think he was that good. "Is that right? Then why didn't you say something?" Naruto replied flatly, "No one asked."

This caused her to almost face-vault. If she wasn't so high up, then she would have landed on her face or back from what he said. But she managed to right herself in her fall and landed on feet. "Okay then, meet me at training ground nineteen." With that she **shunshined** away. Naruto got up, grabbed Natsumi's shoulder and left the same way their sensei did. This left team seven alone to do what they were doing before.

**Training Grounds Nineteen**

Naruto and Natsumi appeared in a swirl of water, which surprised their sensei and teammate, because it is supposed to be incredibly difficult to add an element to the **shunshin**. Naruto and Natsumi sat down next to their teammate. "Alright everyone," started their sensei, "lets start off with introductions. My name is Yugao Uzuki. My likes are kenjutsu, my boyfriend Hayate-kun, and my friends. My dislikes are perverts, rapists, those who look down on kunoichi, and arrogant civilians who think they know how hard shinobi life is. My hobbies are improving my sword techniques, hanging out with my friends, and enjoying my time off. My dreams for the future, well one has already been achieved and the other is to have a family someday. Okay, Yakumo-san, you're next."

Yakumo sat up straighter so as to not seem as small or weak. "My name is Yakumo Kurama and I'm the heiress of the Kurama clan, but don't treat me differently. My likes are getting better control of my genjutsu, painting, and my team, which is you guys. My dislikes are bullies, rapists, a certain woman who tried to take my dream away, and those who hate art. My hobbies are painting and conditioning my muscles so as to allow me to last longer. My dream is to become the greatest genjutsu user in the elemental nations and shove it in a certain woman's face." The team nodded and Yugao pointed to Natsumi.

"My name is Natsumi Uzumaki. Not many people fifteen and under know this, but I contain the Kyuubi no Kitsune." She stopped to take in her teams reactions. Yugao looked surprised that she shared her secret, Yakumo gave her a look of awe, and Naruto gave his nod of approval. "Wow," said Yakumo, "you must be really strong to hold the Kyuubi." Natsumi rubbed the back of her neck, Naruto gave another nod, and Yugao smiled seeing how the other two reacted to her secret. "Anyway, my likes are Naruto-kun, training, ramen, and my friends. My dislikes are arrogant people, rapists, those who can't tell the difference between a biju and the one it's contained in, and how long it takes for ramen to cook. My hobbies are training, eating new types of ramen, and hanging out with Naruto-kun. My dreams for the future are to become the first female Hokage so as to show that women aren't weak and to one day have a family." At the last part she looks at Naruto and blushes.

Naruto went last. "My name is Naruto Yuki Senju. I am the son of the Nidaime Hokage, transported to this time after a failed sealing experiment. Do _not_ tell a soul of this information without my express permission, otherwise I will break you." This got him some frightened nodding. "My likes are my father, Natsumi-chan, this team, and the village. I _dislike_ the villagers of this time, how weak all the shinobi are, and how everyone seems to think that the shinobi life is filled with nothing but fame and glory. My hobbies are training, reading, studying the stars, and helping those that deserve it. My dreams for the future are to have a family, help you all achieve your dreams, and whip you all into shape."

Yugao gave an amused smirk, while Yakumo and Natsumi shot him incredulous looks. "So, you think you can teach better than me? Nidaime's son or not, you are still a genin," said Yugao. "I don't think I can teach better than you," said Naruto. "However, none of you are as strong as you should be. Yakumo-san, you are an heiress and thus represent your clan, but you have trouble walking due to underdeveloped muscles. This is mostly not your fault. You have probably had a sheltered life and from what I was able to dig up on you, you had your powers sealed away. But, you didn't take the initiative to try to condition yourself. You just stewed in your hate and did mostly nothing. You want to be the best genjutsu user, yes? Then take the initiative and you will go far."

"Natsumi-chan, you had your education and training sabotaged by ingrates that are supposed to be teachers. You have constantly sought out attention and thus resorted to pranks. This ruined your education even further and set you back. However, this helped train your abilities with stealth, infiltration, and trap making. All you need is a little refinement. And last is sensei here. Now I can't say much, because I don't know her well enough, but she is weaker than what she should be, due to being in peace for so long. From the look in her eyes, she has seen and experienced a hard life, but has pushed through it. What she lacks mow is drive. She needs a goal. Tell me if you have a title here that you are renowned for."

The other three were shell-shocked at what he said. He pointed out all their flaws and what has led to them. He has also pointed out what they can do to become better. Yugao snapped out of it to answer him. "I am known as Konoha's kenjutsu mistress for my skills with my blade." He gave a nod at that. "Then aim higher. Aim to become on par with the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist). They are renowned as the best. You want to be the best, then you have to beat the best, understand? Good." You couldn't tell but he had just ignited the fire in each of them. They took his advice and promised themselves to get better and stronger.

Yugao then coughed into her hand. "Okay, normally I would have you do a survival exercise of some sort to test if you are ready to become genin. However, because of Natsumi-sans and Naruto-sana revealing their secrets, I believe that you all are read-" She was cut off when Yakumo raised her hand. "Yes?" she asked. Yakumo seemed to struggle with herself for a bit, before relenting. "There's something you should know. When my powers were sealed away, they manifested using my negative emotions to become Ido. It continues to try to take over so as to cause havoc." She looked away from everyone, not wanting to see their reactions.

So color her surprised when she felt two arms wrap around her. She turned to see Natsumi hugging her. "Why?" she asked in a whisper. "Because," started Natsumi, "I understand. Being hated for something that is not you. It hurts. But we are here for you. We'll help you. Trust us." Yakumo looked at her sensei who gave a reassuring smile and Naruto who nodded to her. She smiled and returned Natsumi's hug.

"Alright everyone," said Yugao. "Meet me here tomorrow for training at 7:30 a.m. Don't be late. Seeya." She left with a **shunshin**. The three blinked for minute to register what just happened. "Hey," said Natsumi, "you guys want to go get something to eat?" Yakumo nodded and Naruto acquiesced. Natsumi smiled grabbed both of them and proceeded to drag them to her favorite restaurant.

"Hey Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee, I'm back," shouted an enthusiastic Natsumi. Ayame looked up and smiled at the young girl. "Oh, hey Natsumi-chan. Who are these two? Friends of yours?" she asked. "Yeah, well sort of. Their my teammates, but I'd like to think of them as friends." A hand was placed on her shoulder. "Don't worry Natsumi-chan, we are your friends," said Naruto.

"Enough with the drama already," said Teuchi as he came from the back. "Did you come here to eat? Or did you plan on trying out for soap drama?" He was bonked on the head by his daughter. "Only you and people your age watch those things tou-san." Naruto sat down by Natsumi and Yakumo sat beside her as well. "All right jiji, I'll have ten bowls of ramen," said Natsumi. "I'll have two. One chicken and one beef," said Yakumo. "I'll have a large chicken and beef, with some pork," said Naruto.

It didn't take long for their orders to arrive, and when it finally did, Natsumi tore into hers like a starved man. Yakumo ate slower but still faster than normal. Naruto ate normally, taking his time to enjoy his meal. While all this was going on, Ayame was examining the two that arrived with their favorite customer. Yakumo seemed shy, but was a fun person. But the mystery was their male teammate. She has never seen him before, and she has seen everybody in this village, including Yakumo, so she was being cautious in case he tried anything.

But, the more she kept her eyes on him, the more she took in his features and how handsome he was. She didn't realize that she spent twenty minutes just checking out the mystery boy. She was snapped out of it when Naruto looked at her and asked, "Can I help you?" She sputtered a bit, tried to come up with something, then ran into the back. Naruto raised an eyebrow and Natsumi was wondering what had happened to her nee-chan. The rest of the time was spent in a comfortable silence, with the occasional light chatter until they decided it was time to go home.

**With Yugao After She Left**

Yugao appeared in the Hokages office immediately after leaving her new team. The third looked up. "Ah, Yugao-chan, why are you here? The tests for the teams are not till tomorrow." She looked at him for a moment, making him unconsciously fidget. "Why didn't you tell me Naruto-san is the son of the Nidaime?"

The third stuttered a bit. He wasn't expecting that. Her being pregnant, or not wishing to be a sensei, sure. He could expect that. Even here telling him she is actually a lesbian and wanted him to break it to Hayate, he could believe. It isn't the first time someone did something like that. He was not prepared for her to be in the know of who Naruto really was. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," he said, inwardly cursing his stutter.

"Cut the crap. Naruto told us himself during team introductions. Why-no, how is he here? He said something about a failed experiment. Now tell me," she said in a firm voice. Hiruzen sighed. He could never say no to a woman when she was like this. It was one of the things his wife used to hold over him. "Naruto Yuki Senju is the son of the Nidaime Hokage. He was a prodigy that out shone all others. Even Minato-kun. He has the same control over water as the Nidaime did and has the Hyoton thanks to his mother being an exiled Yuki clan member.."

"He was so skilled that by the time he was thirteen, he could fight his father at an equal level. I remember watching their spars with awe. He was always calm and collective. Very stern when he felt was needed. And he did all he could to protect those he though as precious. In fact if I wanted to, I could pass on the hat to him. He has the needed experience in war, he has the skill, the power, and the intellect. But the bastard refuses! It isn't fair! I spent nigh on sixty years in this confounded office, only to be brought back when my foolhardy successor goes and gets himself killed. Now, the only one who is fit for the job doesn't want it. I know he knows of the paperwork. Damn you Minato! Damn you Naruto! Damn you both to heck."

At the end of his rant he banged his head on the table and proceeded to release some sobs and bang his fist on the table continuously. Yugao sweat-dropped at how her leader was acting. She sighed pinched the bridge of her nose and left the same way she entered. Hiruzen immediately took a peak to check if she was still there. When he was satisfied that she was gone, he dug into his desk and retrieved a familiar orange book. He let out a giggle and said to himself, "Finally. I though she'd never leave." The hidden Anbu could only sweat drop or face-palm.

**Next Day, Team Evaluation**

Hiruzen sat at his desk as firm as he was when in war. Well, that was the outside. On the inside he was weeping and thinking to himself, _'One day. Just one day for myself. Is that to much to ask?' _He sighed and said, "Now that all of you are here, lets start with the evaluations." A random jonin stepped forward. "Team 1, failed. They had no coordination and tended to try to show off with every movement they made."

"Team 2, failed. Kept tripping over themselves."

"Team 3, passed. While ruff around the edges, they show promise."

"Team 4, failed. Don't even get me started."

"Team 5, failed. Pitiful. That's all I have to say."

Team six, failed spectacularly. They kept worrying about everything that may or may not happen, then pissed themselves when I had one of my snakes chase them onto the field," said an irate Anko. Everyone else didn't know who to feel bad for. The kids or Anko.

"Team seven…passed," said Kazumi. This shocked everyone. "While as of now, they tend to fight over who is leader, with some training and discipline, they would make a powerful force."

"Team eight passed. With a little time, I am confident that I can at least tone down Kiba's perverseness. Hinata needs a boost in her confidence and self-esteem. And Hotaru needs to socialize more. By being on this team, Hinata will get that boost she needs from her teammates, Hotaru will socialize moire, and with three women keeping an eye on him, Kibas perverseness will drop."

"YOSH! YOU ALREADY KNOW OF MY TEAM HOKAGE-SAMA!"

"Team 10, passed. While Ino is self-centered, Shika is lazy, and Chouji can't put down his chips for five minutes, they show a lot of promise as the next Ino-Shika-Cho."

"Team 11 passed. They hadn't even known each other for ten minutes and yet, told their teammates of their darkest secrets. This, instead of tearing them apart, has brought them closer together and given each other acceptance." Most were surprised that the dem-they mean Natsumi shared being a jinchuriki. Sarutobi nodded his head, expecting nothing less from his sensei's son.

"Alright," he said. "All those that failed their teams may go on as before. For the rest, I expect all of you to train your teams. That means you Kazumi-chan. Naruto-sen-I mean Naruto-kun has pointed out to me that we have gotten soft in our time of peace. This cannot stand. If we are to keep our clients, then we must show that we are indeed the strongest. Dismissed."

**AN: As you can see, the final votes were for a Fem Shino and Fem Kakashi. Let me tell you, Shino was close, but more people wanted him as a girl. As for Kakashi, it was a landside. Apparently, not a lot of people like regular Kakashi. Now, before you complain about Fem Shikamaru, let me tell you it was from impulse and a lost bet. I regret nothing!**

**Since I'm such a good sport, I'll tell you who is and isn't in the harem so far. **

**In: Natsumi. Sayuri. Haku or OC Yuki Clan Member.**

**Not: Tsunade.**

**Sorry if you wanted Tsunade, but I just can't figure a way to put her in. These decisions are final.**

**Review!**


	4. Chapter 4: To Wave

**AN: Here's the newest chapter. Let's start the show! **

**I don't own a damn thing.**

Chapter 4

Team 11 stood in the mission hall, waiting for their next mission. They were all annoyed with their missions in the past two months since their formation. It was just glorified chores. That's it. But none were more ticked about it than Naruto. He knew that their shinobi have dropped in potential and he couldn't figure out why. Now he knew. When a ninja needs extra pocket change, they take D-rank missions. Naruto used to breeze through C and B-ranks for kicks. He had promised himself that he would stop his team from doing anymore D-ranks.

"Okay, we have walking the Inuzuka hounds, shopping for an old woman, or-"

"TORA!"

"Or there is catching the Daimyo's wife's cat Tora."

"No." It was a whisper, nothing more, but it echoed around the room. "No more of these glorified chores." Everyone in the mission hall turned to Naruto. "Excuse me?" asked Iruka. Naruto gazed around with an apathetic stare that unnerved them all. "Listen Hiruzen." Everyone gasped that he dared call the Sandaime by his name in such a way. "You say that you want the new generation to grow. And yet, you won't allow us to take higher ranked missions. You surely know my track record. I completed C and B-ranks for shits and giggles. Why? Because I could. Now you have me doing chores. This has been annoying to me, so I will ask, would you kindly give my team a C-rank?"

Everyone turned to the third, ready to beg him to at least allow the 'last Senju' to live and preferably in breeding order. However, they came to the sight of the third in thought. Hiruzen looked at Yugao. "Do you think they are ready?" She picked up on what he was asking. It wasn't 'are they ready', it's 'are the girls ready'. She nodded the affirmative.

"Alright then," he said. "You're in luck. We have received a C-rank from a bridge builder from Nami (wave). You are to-"

"Hold on Hokage-sama," came the voice of Iruka. "You're not actually considering this, are you? They're fresh out of the academy. While I know that Naruto-san is very powerful, and so is Yugao-san, Natsumi and Yakumo are not ready for a C-rank. I was their teacher not even two months ago. They couldn't have possibly gotten that strong so fast."

Natsumi was put off by what Iruka said, while Yakumo looked down at one of the few to not fear her Ido say she isn't ready. It was a serious blow to her confidence and Natsumi's pride. But before she could get in an argument with Iruka, the door opened and in walked team 7.

"Team 7 reporting for duty Hokage-sama," said Kazumi. She looked up from her book (aka porn) to see everyone looking her way. "Did I miss something?"

The third snapped out of it. "How about this. If you do not believe that they are ready for a C-rank by themselves, how about a joint mission? It could give them experience and boost relationships between the teams." Iruka was about to argue before thinking, then nodding reluctantly with a sigh. Everyone applauded the third on living up to his title as The Professor. What no one knew or saw was Naruto holding up cue cards with what he just said. He mentally made a note to give him a bonus. "Send in the bridge builder."

An old man with dark grey hair, a straw hat, and reeking of sake stumbled in. "Is this my protection," he groused out. "I paid for ninja, not six brats." There was a small, minute amount of KI that spread across the room. Well, it would be small for those kage level and up. The jonin were sweating, the chunin were breathing heavier, the genin were holding each other for support and comfort, and the civilians were on the ground on their hands and knees seeing many ways of them dying. "Naruto stop!" said the Sandaime.

The oppressive feeling in the air evaporated like it was never there. "Er…right," said the now sober bridge builder. "My name is Tazuna. You are to, uh, protect me till I, uh, complete my bridge. U-understood?" The two teams nodded. Tazuna left, grumbling about needing new shorts.

Kazumi turned to her team. "Well this is a pleasant surprise. Looks like we got that C-rank you all wanted. Head on home and pack for a month long trip." Her team nodded and left through the door as she left by **shunshin (body-flicker)**.

Yugao turned to her team. "Prepare for a moth. Pack light. We don't want to drag ourselves down. I expect to see you three at the gates in one hour." Her team didn't need any other instructions. Naruto created two clones. One for each girl. They grabbed their respective girl and **suiton-shunshin'd (water body-flicker)** away. Yugao left next in her own swirl of leaves. Everyone looked at Naruto expecting him to leave the same. He raised his hands as there was a large puff of smoke from his feet and some lights and he was gone. "Show off," said the third.

**1 Hour Later, Front Gate**

The group was waiting on the arrival of Sakura, Kazumi, and their client. Yugao could understand Kazumi because she did it all the time, but she wondered what was the cause of Sakura's and their clients tardiness. Finally, Sakura arrived. Only, she was lugging a suitcase behind her. Naruto sweat dropped while his two teammates face-palmed. They wanted to prove that woman were not weak and Sakura was a testament against that. Sai smiled, Sayuri hnned, and Yugao's eye began to twitch.

"What is that?" asked Natsumi. Sakura looked at her and gave her superior than thou smirk.

"Why," she began, "it's only my entire make-up collection along with some of my best dresses. A girl needs to accessorize. But, we all know that you don't even have the bare essentials, dobe." Naruto pinched his nose at her explanation. _'I knew standards dropped, but I didn't think they dropped that much,'_ he thought. Yakumo was asking why she had to partner with the banshee. Finally, Natsumi had a large tick mark.

"Idiot," she said, "we're going on a mission, not to the mall." Sakura humped, but otherwise ignored her. For the next ten minutes Naruto tried to keep from sighing and chuckling from Natsumi trying to brain Sakura, to Sakura's screeching. Kazumi chose that time to arrive with their client. "YOUR LATE!" screamed Sakura. Kazumi waved her off and then started to walk off, everyone following.

The entire trip there was silent except for the few moments when Sakura would question their client on Nami. On the way there, they spied a puddle in the middle of the road. Kazumi casually walked to the back of the group. But nothing happened. She shared a glance with Yugao, who shrugged and they continued on their way.

After they left, a head rose from the ground. It looked left, then right, making sure no one was there. "Phew, that was close. We can't take on that many. We need to report back to base. Gozu!" The other one blearily rose up. "W-*yawn*-what? I was sleeping, Meizu." Meizu's eye was twitching from his brothers antics. "Come on, we need to get back to base." His brother nodded, stumbled a bit, then hopped into the trees after his brother. "Hey Meizu. Do you think we can get lunch?" Meizu had to refrain from bashing his brother over the head.

Back with the group of Konoha nin, we find them traveling across the waterway in a motorboat. But the motor is shut off for the purpose of not being spotted, despite there not being any guards within a twelve mile radius. "It's huge," remarked Natsumi.

"Yep," said Tazuna, "that is my pride and joy. Everyone here is looking forward to its completion. It will open a new route of trade at half the cost. It will give back to those affected by Gato. We are not doing as well as we used to since Gato came. He bought all the docks and ports and jacked up the prices for shipments. This will deal a big blow to his wallet." They continued in silence till they reached the land. As soon as they were off, the boatman sped off. The group walked to their clients house without incident. Tazuna knocked on the door.

Immediately, the door opened and frying pan came down on his head. He fell back, allowing the ninja to see a twenty something year old woman holding the frying pan. She looked shocked for a moment, then realized what she did. "Oh my, father!" She rushed to her fathers aid, along with Natsumi and Yakumo. She gave a nod to the two girls. "I guess you're my fathers protection? Well come on inside. Sorry about what just happened. We've fallen under some hard times and I thought you were here to rob us. My names Tsunami by the way."

As the group chatted with their clients daughter, Naruto hung back. _'Something's not right here. How could they be under hard times when he is working on a bridge? I'm missing something, but what? I'll take a look around town later on.'_ With that, he re-entered the conversation.

**Hidden Base**

"We apologize, master," said the demon brothers at the same time. "There were too many," said Meizu. "If we had tried, we may have gotten one or two, three if we were lucky." A figure sat in a comfy looking chair in the shadows of the room. All that was seen was a massive zanbatou. Standing next to the seated figure was their right hand 'man'. A young woman with long black hair, currently in a bun, and doe brown eyes. The figure motioned for them to continue.

"We have managed to identify the team leaders," said Gozu. "The first was Shaingan no Kazumi, the copycat ninja. She was our best possible target, seeing as she traveled at the back of the group and was nose deep in her book."

Meizu took over. "The other leader was Konohas kenjutsu mistress, Yugao of the Crescent Moon. She was keeping a vigilant eye on everything around her. When she spotted our concealed hiding spot, I swear she was looking me straight in the eye. It was surreal. We have also comprised a list of the genin with them, and even a couple of quick snapshots." He pulled out the folder and placed it on the ground. "That is all," he finished.

There was silence for a moment before the figure gave the signal to leave. They did so with haste. After the duo left, the young woman picked up the folder and gave it to her master. The figure started to flip through it, taking a quick look at the descriptions of the genin, before halting on the last one. The figure was staring at it with intensity that the woman has rarely seen. She peered at the page her master was on.

What she saw took her breath away. It was a picture of a boy wearing a set of old fashioned armor that looked like snowflakes falling onto crashing waves. He had four stripes on his handsome visage, two on each cheek. Yellow-gold eyes and white hair that flowed into a light blue, kept in spiky fashion. She was broken from her staring by her master snapping their fingers. They pointed at the picture of the boy. She understood. Her master wanted information on this genin. With her non-spoken orders, she left.

**With Naruto, Next Day**

Naruto had just left the bridge builders house, making his way to town. He had explained what he will be doing to Yugao, who agreed with his assessment of the situation. She has decided to have Yakumo and Natsumi stay and guard the family, while she guards Tazuna. Kazumi had decided this was the perfect time to actually start training her students. Naruto shook his head at that. He knew team 7 was destined to fail from the beginning and not training them only made it worse. He looked up to see he has arrived at his destination.

And he didn't like what he saw. The buildings were in disrepair. People wearing rags, apparently living in the streets, and fighting over scraps. A person tried to pickpocket him, but was stopped by an idle backhand that sent him flying. After that, everyone cleared a path for him. He spots a building that wasn't in total disrepair. A bar. How quaint. He enters the establishment and sees that it is decently filled with a bunch of 'thugs', for lack of a better term. As he walks up to the counter, he sees the men being rowdy and drinking away as if there wasn't a care in the world.

He sees scantily clad woman dancing for the men, trying, and in some cases failing, to hide their looks of disgust for their 'clients'. If the men saw it, they didn't seem to care. He arrived, only to be greeted by a quick once over by the barkeep. The man nodded to himself. When he came over, Naruto decided to ask some questions. "I'm looking for some information. This looked like the best place to search." The man looked around and gave a nod.

Naruto ordered a glass of orange juice. Hey it was early in the morning, he needed something. The barkeep got him his drink before leaning in. "What did you need to know?" he asked. Naruto took another glance around the room.

"Where's Gato?"

It was a simple question. But, it carried weight in Nami. If Gato found out that you told an outsider his location, you would find yourself dead, your possessions taken, and your family enslaved. "That is something I cannot answer," replied the barkeep. Before Naruto could ask why, he was approached by some of the more sober thugs.

"And why would you want to know where boss is?" he asked, trying to intimidate the white-haired boy. Naruto didn't turn around, nor did he heed the man. "Hey! I said why'd you want to know where boss is?" When Naruto didn't respond, the man flipped and grabbed him by the shoulder. That proved to be a mistake.

Naruto grabbed the arm, slammed it on the counter and stabbed a kunai in it, eliciting a scream from the surprised thug. "So I can kill him," Naruto said. He removed the kunai, before slitting the mans throat and throwing it across the bar, impaling a man in the throat who was trying to be a little too fresh with one of the women. The bar fell silent, before a thug roared in rage and charged him.

Naruto dodged the sloppy blow, grabbed his arm and broke it in two. The man screamed as the bone pierced the skin. Naruto jammed the jagged bone into the mans skull. The next tried to decapitate him with a swing of his sword. Naruto tilted his head down and avoided the blow. He stuck out his elbow into the mans ribs causing him to bend over. Naruto twisted his wrist, making him drop the sword and caught it. He sliced off the mans head and tossed the sword to his other hand.

He lifted it up, blocking a blow from a man wielding a heavy club. He kneed the man and impaled him on the sword. Naruto swung to the right, sending the body in to three guys. Naruto wrapped his foot around a nearby chair and pushed it behind, causing it to collide with one of the thugs that tried sneaking up on him. The man slid forward till he was next to Naruto. He lifted his foot and curb-stomped the man. The 'fight' continued on like this till he killed the last one not even five minutes later.

Naruto watched as the women quickly rummaged through the corpses, taking what they needed. Whether that be food, money, or weapons. He dug into his own pocket and placed a few hundred ryo on the counter. "For the damages," he said and walked out. Right when he reached the door, he heard a cry of "wait!". He turned to see one of the women run up to him and hand him a piece of paper. She bowed in thanks and went back to the others.

Naruto was walking in the streets when he decided to look at the paper. 'Gato lives in a mansion a few miles in the forest north-east of the bridge'. He nodded to himself, tore up the paper, and was on his way back to the bridge builders house.

**Hidden Base**

Haku appeared before her master. "I have my report," she said. Her master moved for her to continue. "I wasn't able to find out anything on the young man, but I found out that Yugao has taken to guarding the bridge builder. Her team guards the family while Kazumi has been training her team in the forest away from everyone else."

"I had lost the boy when he entered the town. I don't know if he knew I was there or not, but he disappeared in the crowd when I tried to follow. I eventually spotted him leaving a bar reading a piece of paper. I checked on what he had acquired only to be met with a slaughter of Gato's goons. I couldn't sense any chakra from the area, so I assume that he didn't use any. That means he had killed over fifty of Gato's men with his hands."

Her master chuckled at this revelation. "I wonder," came the feminine voice, "will you provide the challenge I have been thirsting for?" She leaned forward to reveal a stunning woman. She had shoulder length black hair, surprisingly yellow eyes, a heart shaped face, wide hips, trim waist, and G-cup breasts. She also had a bloodthirsty smile on her face. If this boy could do what her apprentice said he did with his bare hands, he could most likely be the challenge she has been searching for. "Haku," she said, "start preparing, we strike at the end of the week."

"Master?" asked Haku. "Should I send for reinforcements?" At her masters curious look, she continued. "We do not know their strengths, and the element of surprise will most likely not help with the jonin." Her master grunted then sighed. "Go ahead," she said. You could tell from her voice that she was reluctant in this decision. Haku nodded and left. "But that boy is _mine_," said the woman.

**Bridge Builders House, End Of The Week**

The group was preparing to head out, only for Yugao to notice Naruto wasn't moving from the couch. "Naruto?" she asked, garnering the attention of everyone there. "Why aren't you preparing?" Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I thought it be best for at least one of us to remain here. If someone is targeting Tazuna, then they might go after his family to get to him." Everyone stopped to think about it, except Sakura who was glaring at him for taking the spotlight away from Sayuri.

Yugao sighed at his logic. She can never win when it came to him. _'Men are the ones who are supposed to never win when they argue with women,'_ she lamented to herself. "Fine, do as you wish. Not like I can argue with you." She muttered the last part to herself angrily. Naruto nodded and observed as they left with an apathetic face.

When he was sure that they were gone, he conjured several clones. "Listen Tsunami," he addressed the daughter, "I am heading out to accomplish my objective. My team does not know of it, that is the main reason for me staying, so that they don't pick up on what I'm about to do. I am leaving these clones here as a safeguard in case Gato tries something. Yes, I know everything. You don't honestly expect me to venture into town and not pick up on a few things did you? Each of these clones are powerful enough to take down several jonin, so you shouldn't have much to worry about." With his piece said, Naruto headed off to Gato's mansion.

A few minutes after Naruto left, a crash was heard at the front door. Tsunami rushed outside to see what caused the commotion, only to find her son, Inari, held by two of Gato's men. "Listen," said the smaller one, "We'll cut you a deal. Come with us, without a fuss and we'll make sure your son isn't sold to the mines. Deal?"

"No!" screamed Inari. I don't wanna go. Let me go you jerks." He was struggling till the smaller one smashed his elbow into the kid. "Shut up. Dang, kids are so annoying."

"Then I guess you won't like me," came Naruto's voice. Before the two wannabe samurai could react, a clone appeared before the small one and sent him flying with a kick into a tree. Another clone attacked from behind and smashed his fist into Inari's capturers head. The man went flying, but not before the first clone grabbed Inari. "That was disappointing," said Naruto's clones. The first one looked down when he heard sniffling.

He sees Inari trying not to cry. He gently placed his hand on Inari's head and ruffled his hair. "That was brave of you. Most people would have just given up as soon as they were caught. But you, you fought back as much as you could. That's the sign of a strong man Inari. A strong man that I know you'll become one day." Inari looked up at him with no small amount of admiration and Tsunami was smiling. Her son had a hero again. The two walked back inside as Naruto's clones went back to their positions.

**With The Real Naruto**

Naruto had just arrived at the outer gates of the mansion. "Hey kid," shouted one of the guards that were approaching him. "Hey! I'm talking to you." The more Naruto didn't acknowledge the man, the more the man steamed. Having enough of Naruto's disrespect, he launched a punch at him. Naruto caught it with one hand. He turned a cold eye onto the man, causing him to shake with fear.

There was the sound of crunching bones, and the man let out a scream with one final snap. Naruto pulled him up and threw the man at the gates. It forced the gates open with a resounding clang. All eyes turned to the gates to see Naruto walking through as if he was taking a stroll. Naruto gazed at each of them with an impassive gaze. He cracked his neck and grabbed one of his kunai. "Try to make this fun for me," he said.

**With The Others After They Left**

They had just arrived at the bridge. The thing is, is that there was an unnatural amount of mist in the air. Yugao and Kazumi could both sense the chakra enlaced in the mist. The two nodded and flared their chakra. It only lifted the mist enough to see several meters ahead. There were bodies of the workers everywhere. Tazuna ran to the nearest one. He checked for a pulse and sighed in relief when he found one. "There alive, just unconscious," he said

"The same cannot be said for you soon enough," said a voice from the mist. Further on, the mist cleared to reveal several figures. Three women and two men. Only one could not be identified thanks to a hunter mask. "Well, well, well," said a red haired woman. "You didn't mention that there would be two highly renowned jonin, Shizuka-chan." The other woman merely chuckled. "Fine be that way," said the woman, but you could here the playfulness.

"Shizuka Momochi, Ameyuri Ringo, and the Demon brothers," said Kazumi. "Looks like this mission just went up in rank. Yugao, who do you want?"

Yugao mocked thinking on who she will face. "Screw this," yelled Ameyuri, breaking Yugao from her 'thoughts'. "I'll take the bitch." She charged forward, swords drawn. Yugao drew her katana and leaped away from the group so as to not draw the genin into the conflict.

Kazumi didn't take her eyes off the remaining enemies. "Listen up," she addressed the genin, "you are to-" She was cut off when Sayuri drew a kunai and charged recklessly at the opposing group. "Wait! Damn. Natsumi, Yakumo, help her out. I'll take Shizuka. Sakura, Sai, stay here and protect the bridge builder." Not waiting for a response, she too charged at her desired opponent.

Natsumi looked at Yakumo and nodded. They both chased after Sayuri, so as to keep her from getting killed. Sakura went to follow, but was stopped by Sai. He shook his head, the constant smile on his face gone. She looked back at the fight and made one of the smartest decisions in her life so far. She stayed where she was. The battle of the bridge has just begun.

**AN: Sorry for the delay, everytime I got inspiration, something happens that ruins my mood and I cannot wright. Review or I'll hire Tyson Rios and Eliot Salem to capture you and make you do it.**

**One last thing, this is a request to anyone that plays Clash of Clans, if you are looking to join a clan, search for Clash Kings. That is the clan I'm in. The K is in a fancy script and I go by the name Swordswolf. Thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Battle of the Bridge

**AN: I don't a damn thing.**

Chapter 5

**With Naruto**

Naruto had cleared the courtyard of all the annoyances. In laymen's terms: he killed all the hired thugs in an effective and brutal manner. Everywhere was painted in blood, bodies, and unidentifiable human parts. He walked to the front doors and kicked it open. He walked in to see a lavish hallway with a red carpet, fancy tables and chairs, and multiple expensive looking decorations such as paintings, drapes, and various pieces of armor and weapons. He scoffed at a waist of useful armor and weapons.

As he continued down the hall, he kept on the lookout for any booby-traps and ambush points, since there was no one at the entrance. He made sure to go through each and every room to make doubly sure that there wasn't anyone trying for an ambush. He came across more useless rooms, storage rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, but stopped when he opened the door to the last room at the end of the first floor. It was a stairwell that led downwards. He narrowed his eyes before grabbing a torch near the walls in a cliché setting.

He only went down one set of stairs, but was led to a dungeon. He eyes the various cages that had blood on the floors, near the drains, and skeletons and bodies hanging by their wrists from being shackled to the wall. There were many torches so as to give plenty of lighting, but didn't discard his. Never know when something could become useful. There were various torture machines that he could identify.

First was a set of thumbscrews. It consisted of three upright metal bars, between which the thumbs were placed. A wooden bar slid down along the metal bars, pressing the thumbs against the bottom. A screw pressed the wood bar downward, crushing the thumbs painfully. Next was a set of racks. No, it isn't a woman's chest, it is a 'bed' in which the victim would lie and have their arms and legs bound by a sturdy rope. Then a wheel would be turned causing mass pain till the limbs were popped from their sockets. Sometimes the torturer would continue till the limbs were ripped off completely.

He gave a slight wince when he found Iron Maidens, breast rippers, and a pear of anguish. Iron maidens are the metal sarcophagus with the metal spikes. The victim would be thrown in and the doors closed. The spikes were strategically placed so as to pierce vital organs, but short enough so as to not kill the victim immediately. A breast ripper was meant only for women and is self explanatory. The last, though, is a rather interesting device.

This was a pear-shaped device, with the body of the pear made up of four metal "leaves" joined by a hinge at its top, and a key or crank on one end. The pear was inserted into the vagina, anus or throat, usually depending on the nature of the crime committed. Turning the key opened the leaves, causing massive internal damage. The device was rarely fatal, but other methods of torture would usually follow.

He could tell by the flesh and blood on the devices that they have been recently used. He said a quick prayer for the departed, before continuing on his way. When he reached the end, he came across a disturbing sight for most people. Naruto isn't included because he has seen far worse. It was men and women of varying age locked in cages as if they were animals. He could tell just by looking at them, that they had lost the will to live. He couldn't fault them since most couldn't have gone through the various tortures and live.

He had to snort when he spied the locks. All it was, was a chain and lock that anyone could pick given time, but with the people broken as they were, there was no chance of someone trying anytime soon. He punched the chains off and allowed the doors to swing free. The people looked at him with confusion and some hope. "Alright," he started, "get up. I've cleared the entrance and courtyard. so I want all of you to get the heck out of dodge." No one moved at first, some still believing it's a trick. "I said MOVE!" That got them going.

As they ran out, they would give shouts of joy, sighs of relief, and various thanks. Naruto turned around and carried on with his trek through the mansion. He cleared the second floor with little trouble. There was a few guards, but most were out of it from too many drinks, indicated by the mugs lying around them. The third floor had actual alert guards, but were easily dealt with. When he arrived at the top floor, all he found was a long hallway with a set of double doors at the end. There was a single guard dozing off at the entrance.

Naruto walked up to him, grabbed the man by the throat, and threw him through the doors. He landed on the desk causing it to break. Naruto looked around for anyone else. Only to growl when there wasn't anyone there. He marched to the groaning thug and drew him up so as to talk face-to-face. Naruto gave a slap to get the mans full attention. "W-wha-"

That was as far as he got before Naruto slapped him again. "Listen," Naruto said lowly, "I came here for one reason. To find and kill Gato. There's just one problem here. I don't see Gato. Now, unless you want to die a horrible, painful death, I suggest you tell me." The thug stuttered, only to receive another slap. He proceeded to tell all he knew of Gato's planned betrayal. Naruto nodded before grabbing a kunai and slitting the mans throat. Seeing the unasked question in the dying mans eyes, he elaborated. "I said, if you told me, I wouldn't give you a painful ending. I never said anything about letting you go."

Naruto ignored the body as it dropped to the floor and summoned a pair of clones. "You know what to do." They nodded and went around searching for anything of value. Knowing the type of man Gato is, he knew that he'd keep his valuables close to him. With his clones carrying out their deed, he left towards the bridge. _'Enjoy these moments Gato, because they will be your last.'_

**The Bridge, When Naruto Started His Assault**

Sayuri had quickly found herself on the defense. She had dashed forward in a surprise attack in the hopes of eliminating one or two of the three opponents. She could see that it had worked at first. What she didn't expect was for their recovery time. The demon brother with two horns had brought his clawed gauntlet up for a downward slash. She had jumped to the side, only to be on the receiving end of a jump kick.

She skipped a few feet, before coming to a stop. She looked up to see the two-horned demon brother making another slash. One she knew she couldn't dodge in time. She closed her eyes as a tear escaped. _'Sorry tou-san, I failed. Looks like I'll be joining you.'_

Clang!

She snapped her eyes open to see Natsumi standing before her blocking the blow with a kunai. The other demon brother tried to get her while she was preoccupied, but had to abort his plan when a clawed hand broke through the ground and made a reach for him. "The hell?" he asked. Looking to the side, he sees another of the genin standing there with a notepad. She had just finished drawing something when he took notice of her. She turned the notepad around to show his cloak on fire and his gauntlet melting.

He laughed at what she was doing in the middle of the battlefield, only to switch tunes when he noticed it was actually happening. His scream had everyone stop to look at what caused it. They see him trying to pull off his melting gauntlet and flaming coat. He succeeded, if barely. He had third degree burns on his hand and major two degree burns on multiple parts of his body. When he looked back to the items he removed, he noticed that they were perfectly fine. "Why you bitch!" he yelled. He pulled out a kunai and jumped after Yakumo.

Back with Natsumi and Sayuri, we find that they were now both on the defensive. Natsumi had used the initial surprise from her attack quite well. But she wasn't ready for a foe like one of the demon brothers. Even if she is a well trained genin, that doesn't mean she has the strength, knowledge, or experience that the demon brother did. She was pushed back after he had recovered from his brothers screams. But she had accomplished what she needed to do. She had kept Sayuri from being killed and as a bonus, had gotten her back on her feet.

The only thing that could make this worse, is if the fake hunter-nin had joined in on the fight. It was both a relief and troubling that the person had yet to join the fight. The demon brother had charged at both of them, gauntlet raised and a kunai in the other hand. Natsumi dodged the gauntlet and got under his guard for a strike to his torso, while Sayuri had deflected the kunai. She had learned her lesson. She couldn't match his strength, but she could redirect his strikes.

They jumped back to see him holding his side with the kunai in it. He looked at it, then them and laughed. "Haha, foolish girls. Did you think this could stop me?" he said. He took off his cloak to show armor underneath. The girls cursed underneath their breath. Sayuri was thinking of any number of plans to defeat the demon brother, while Natsumi was examining him, looking for any possible weakness. Her eyes caught something and she smirked. She grabbed Sayuri and whispered in her ear. They locked eyes and nodded with smirks on their faces.

Sayuri charged in first, closely followed by Natsumi. Gozu didn't like the looks on their faces and he didn't want to wait to see whatever plan they came up with. He ran through a set of hand-signs and called out, "**Suiton: Ja no Kuchi (Snakes Mouth)**." A large amount of water came over the side of the bridge and formed into a snakes head. It opened its maw and charged at the two girls. This had forced them to separate. Gozu went after the closest girl, which was Sayuri.

He was hovering over her before she could recover and made to pierce her with the gauntlet. She rolled to the side onto her back and lashed out with a kick that struck his bottom jaw. He staggered back a few feet holding his now sore jaw. He glare at her, but caught the sound of metal cutting through the air. He turned and dodged a few kunai and shuriken that were launched at him. He turned to find Natsumi ten feet away from him with a kunai in a defensive grip.

He growled and lunged at her. She blocked his blow by channeling chakra to her arm. He grunted from the effort, but was cut off guard when Sayuri jumped onto his back. "Wha-" He wasn't able to finish when Sayuri jammed a kunai into his re-breather. The girls backed off as the sound of him having trouble breathing filled the air. Eventually, he was brought to his knees and ripped off the mask. As he heaved for fresh air, the girls came and knocked him out with a decisive blow to his head.

The next thing they knew, the other demon brother crashed onto his brother. They jumped and got into a defensive pose only to relax when Yakumo came up to them. Before they could ask, she held up a hand. "He kept taking his sweet time to make a finishing blow when he could. He even monologued." Natsumi face-palmed at what she was told.

Their celebration was cut short however, when a hail of senbon that seemed to be made of ice landed at their feet. They turned to see the forgotten faux hunter-nin with more senbon in hand. "Impressive," they said. Their voice gave away that they were in fact female. "However, I won't be so easy to defeat." She dashed at the girls at a speed that they have only seen in their sensei's. It was going to be a difficult fight.

On the other side of the bridge we find Yugao deadlocked with Ameyuri. She was concentrating her lightning affinity through her sword so as to keep the fabled Kiba blades from cutting through. Ameyuri was surprisingly grinning. She hadn't had such a fight in years. It was only made better by the fact her opponent was skilled in the art of the blade and also possessed a lightning affinity like her. But this stalemate has gone on long enough in her opinion. She removed one of the blades and tilted the other, causing Yuago to over-extend.

Ameyuri made for a stab, but Yugao bent at the waist in order to avoid it. This wasn't without consequence. Yugao wasn't very flexible and bending at this angle had hurt her back muscles. She grimaced from the pain, but pushed it back and straightened up. She leapt back and started her jutsu. Ameyuri saw what she was planning and began her own. "**Raiton: Raikyu (Lightning Ball)**," shouted Yugao.

"**Raiton: Raigeki (Lightning Strike)**," said Ameyuri. The two jutsu collided. Yugao was good in lightning jutsu, but Ameyuri was an expert. Thus, it wasn't a surprise that Ameyuri's jutsu tore through Yugao's. It continued on to Yugao, weaker and slower from the collision allowing her to dodge it. She raised her sword to defend from another attack from Ameyuri's swords. _'Crap. How do I match her. She's far more experienced in these situations. It's like she can predict my moves.'_

Not to far from the battle between swordswomen, Kazumi was standing in the middle of the mist, trying to sense Shizuka. It was difficult because she wasn't a sensor type and with the mist being laced with chakra made it all the more difficult. "Eight points," came Shizuka's voice. "Heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular vein, brain. These are the eight points on the human body that are instant kills. Now, which one will I choose?"

Kazumi spun around and brought up a kunai to block the blow. She was relieved when the sword was withdrawn. She had put a lot of chakra in her arm to withstand that blow. The sword came again from her right. She jumped and kicked the blade down. It imbedded in the ground and the mist cleared just enough to show Shizuka giving her a glare. She gave a few tugs on the blade, but it wouldn't budge. "Fine then," said Shizuka. "If that's how you want to play it, then I'll play."

She dashed at Kazumi at high speeds to give a gut wrenching punch to her sternum. Kazumi was bent over coughing and hacking. Shizuka withdrew her fist and sent an elbow to Kazumi's neck. She dodged the blow by rolling forward. She used the momentum of the roll to stand on her hands and sent a double donkey kick at Shizuka's stomach knocking her onto her back.

They both stood and glared at each other. Kazumi huffed a few times before reaching up and lifting her hitae-ate (forehead protector) to reveal a fully matured Sharingan eye. "So you finally decided to take this seriously then? Good. Now show me what you got Sharingan no Kazumi (Kazumi of the Copy Wheel Eye)!"

"**Suiton: Mizu Bushin (Water Clone)**," they both said. Each one had created five clones. Only difference being that since Shizuka was still holding on to the sword, her clones each had a copy. Kazumi cursed as the odds swung in her opponents favor. They engaged in a short battle that only led to the destruction of the clones and each combatant receiving a few cuts and bruises. Shizuka was trying to bite back a frustrated yell. That's when she was hit with an idea.

She chuckled and allowed the mist to recover the battlefield. Kazumi tensed, thinking on all possibilities that can come from it. "**Suiton: Suiryuudan (Water Dragon Missile)**," came Shizukas voice from the left. This gave enough warning to partially dodge the attack. It had still grazed her right side, ripping off the flak jacket and shirt at that point. She put a hand on her side to help staunch the bleeding. A chuckle resounded through the air and Shizuka named another jutsu. "**Suiton: Daibakufu (Great Water Vortex)**."

Kazumi, thinking fast, performed a **Khwarizmi (Substitution)** with the Kubikiribocho. The vortex of water crashed onto the mighty blade. It held firm for a few seconds, before succumbing to the jutsu. A loud crack was heard and the blade broke in two, leaving a fallen blade and a handle with a jagged end.*

Silence. That was all there was. Then, "You're going to pay for that," growled out Shizuka. She came charging in, anger clear on her face. She had a kunai in each hand ready to make Kazumi bleed. This is what Kazumi had been waiting for. With her opponents mind lost in rage, she became sloppier and easier to read. Kazumi constantly weaved through Shizuka's attacks, infuriating her further. Kazumi jumped to the side, but had to kneel when it jolted her injured side.

Shizuka came in with a downward slash. Kazumi, using chakra in her arms, managed to grab Shizuka's arms. She used this to throw Shizuka away from her. "You know," said Shizuka, "That wasn't very smart. You had the perfect chance to end this and you wasted it. You've gotten soft."

"No," replied Kazumi, "I just wanted to make you bleed more." She plunged her hand into her pouch and withdrew a scroll. Unrolling it, she wiped her blood on it, slammed it on the floor and shouted, "**Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga (Summoning: Earth Style: Tracking Fang)**." A puff of smoke came from the scroll and several something's dove from the scroll into the ground.

"What?" exclaimed Shizuka. The mist cleared to reveal her being held by several dogs by biting into her limbs and back of the neck. She struggled a bit, but the dogs just held on tighter. "How?" she asked.

"Simple," said Kazumi, "When I had grabbed you, I had placed my blood on you. I just allowed my ninken to follow the scent to you." That's when both kunoichi found that the sounds of battle had abated. Then, a dark presence appeared. Looking at the end of the bridge, Kazumi sees a dome made of what looked like ice mirrors with the inside glowing red. Next, Natsumi came barreling out with her fist planted into the faux hunter-nins mask, a tail of red chakra behind her. "I have to end this fast. Congratulations Shizuka. You are one of the few who gets to die by my original technique."

She flipped through three hand-signs, then pointed her right hand down, palm in an open claw. Chakra gathered at her hand till it became visible. The sound of chirping noises filled the air as electricity started shooting in random directions from her hand. "**Chidori (One Thousand Birds)**."She charged forward and thrusted out her hand. However, when she was ten feet away, a mirror of ice appeared and the fake hunter-nin, now without her mask, came out of the ice and stood in her path.

'_Shit! I can't move now,'_ she thought. Just as it seemed that she would impale the young woman, a hand snatched her arm. The shock and surprise that someone stopped her and was apparently unaffected from the lightning, deactivated the technique. "That's enough," came a familiar voice.

Standing there was Naruto. He was still holding her arm as he observed the bridge. Nearest to him was Ameyuri holding her blades to a kneeling Yugao's throat. They were both staring at him. He then turned his sights at the other fight area. Natsumi was on her knees with a shocked expression and a hand reaching forward. He can see two figure lying side-by-side near her. From his guess, he wagered sadly that the two were Yakumo and Sayuri.

That's when clapping was heard. Everyone turned to the very end of the bridge to see Gato standing there with an army of thugs. "Well, well, well. Seems the 'demon' was nothing but talk. Doesn't matter, I wasn't going to pay you anyway," he said.

"Gato! What are you doing?" shouted Shizuka. Naruto gestured for the others to come to him. Ameyuri reluctantly lowered her blades and started to walk to him. Yugao was right behind her sending the redhead a scathing glare. Natsumi managed to make two clones. Each one picked up a different girl and carried them to Naruto.

"What does it look like," continued on Gato like nothing was wrong. "You see, you shinobi are too expensive for my tastes. So I figured I'd wait till your tired, swoop in, kill the bridge builder and all the men, and take you ladies as my slaves. Now, the thugs behind me are cheaper, but all together costs me more than you do, so be a dear and kill off a few."

The girls were either shaking or snarling at the arrogant midget. But before they did something stupid, Naruto walked in front of them. "You know," he started, "It's easy to clean a carcass like a vulture. Which you are. No wait, that'd be an insult to vultures. At least they just eat dead flesh, you on the other hand, are far, far worse. I'm going to enjoy killing you."

Gato chuckled, then turned around and headed back to his boat. "Make sure to make him suffer. As for the girls, you can have the older ones." The men around him cheered and charged forward. Naruto bent down and picked up the handle of the Kubikirbocho. Without saying anything, he charged at the army of bandits.

He ducked under the first slash and gutted the man. Backing up, he bent backwards at the waist, dodging three spears. He grabbed them, stood straight and threw them at their owners, impaling them and three behind each. He slashed another's jugular, punched through another's chest, and curb stomped a downed enemy. As he continued, he noticed the blood rushing into the broken sword and saw it reforming. When it was back to completion, he started to bisect the thugs.*

The girls watched the massacre as he spared none. If anyone was looking, the would see Shizuka and Ameyuri licking their lips. Finally, after the last bandit fell, Naruto paused. He took a look at his handiwork then turned to Gato. The short, fat bastard was cowering covered in blood. The terrified man cast his fearful gaze upon Naruto when he heard his approach. To him, he wasn't seeing Naruto, he was seeing the Grim Reaper and the sword was the dreaded scythe.

"P-p-please. Stop! I'll give you anything you want. Money. Power. Women. Any-" he was cut off from pleading for his life when Naruto swung the Kubikiribocho and decapitated him. Silence once again hung in the air. Till it was shattered by Natsumi, Sakura, and the revived girls running to the side and puking. He made a note to ask about Sayuri and Yakumo's revival. Then he picked up Gatos head and walked back to the group.

This is when the villagers appeared. "Get out of…our…home." The villager that was saying this fell silent, as did the others, when they saw the bodies, blood, and guts. Before they could run to the sides and puke, a squelching noise drew their attention. Landing in front of them was Gatos head. They stared and then started to cheer. The ninja could only look on with smiles while Naruto had a contented smirk.

**Three Days Later**

Everyone was gathered at the now completed bridge. Repeated cheers and thanks from the villagers targeted the shinobi. Natsumi and Yakumo had proud grins, Sayuri had a satisfied smirk, Sai…was Sai, Sakura was worshiping Sayuri for cheating death, and the jonin and Haku had small smiles as well. "You sure you can't stay longer?" asked Tazuna.

"No," said Naruto, "We've already been delayed enough as is. Anymore and they'll send either a search tem or hunter-nin. Thank you for the offer though." Tazuna nodded as The two party's had their tearful farewells. After a while, they stopped at a intersection.

"Guess this is it," said Shizuka. "We'll be heading back to Kiri. Most likely join the rebels and all that." The two teams from Konoha nodded at that, though Natsumi was a bit down-trodden at losing out on some potential friends. "Don't worry gaki (brat), you'll be seeing us again sooner than you think. And when we do," here her tone turned a bit sultry as Ameyuri gained a perverse smile, "we'll get to know each other a lot more Naruto-kun." Before anyone could react, the two swordswomen appeared on either side of him and gave him a kiss. They immediately **Shunshined (Body Flicker) **back to their group and headed off.

There was an awkward silence in the air, till Naruto turned to the direction of Konoha and set off, everyone trailing behind. "What was that?" yelled/asked Natsumi. Yakumo had the same expression as did Yugao, though you couldn't tell.

"It appears I have gained their affection. How? I do not rightly know. If I were to wager a guess, it would either be from the time out sides spent together after the battle or it was because of my slaughter on the bridge or both. But that is neither here nor there. We need to get back to the village as quickly as possible." He quickened his pace knowing that by not answering their question(s) fully, they'd try to keep up so as to continue their pseudo interrogation.

"Oh no, you are not getting out of this that easily. Come back and answer me," said an irate Natsumi. When he ignored her she picked up the pace to match his as did everyone else, if for no other reason than that this was sure to be entertaining.

**Konoha, Hokage Office**

The team made it in record time. As they debriefed the Hokage, he couldn't help but think, _'That's Naruto-sensei.' _He gave a sigh, then addressed the teams. "Congratulations on completing an A-rank mission. You all did just as expected, which cannot be held against you, or went above and beyond. You faced against an unknown threat and stood firm where others would have fled. You all shall receive pay equal to the increase in mission. You will have the next month off to train, relax, and reflect. Dismissed."

**AN: Naruto continues to show how much of a boss he is, has gained the admiration of Wave, and has gained the affection of two swordswomen. And what's this? Yugao is falling for him as well? Maybe.**

**How'd you like the battle? To much? To little? Just right? Wait a minute, this isn't Goldilocks and the three bears, what am I saying? **

**There's a story I want you all to check out, not sure if I had said this before, but oh well. It's called The New Holder of the Wrath by Tremor230. Great author has fantastic ideas. Check it out.**

**In the immortal words of Andrew Ryan: Review, would you kindly?**


	6. Chapter 6: The Exams Start

**AN: I own not a damn thing. **

**List to own something:**

**Step 1: Get a decent paying job.**

**2: Don't blow it all in one sitting.**

**3: ?**

**4: Own whatever I want.**

Chapter 6

**A Month Later**

Team eleven had used the month to hone their current skills and develop new ones. At least, the girls did. Naruto was there to help supervise and train them. The fight and loss to Ameyuri had dealt a major blow to Yugao's pride. She knew if Naruto hadn't stopped the fight, she'd be dead. So she used the month to increase her skills in kenjutsu. The problem was finding someone who could push her relentlessly. The answer: Naruto.

**Flashback**

Yugao and Naruto stood on opposite side of their designated arena. She had her katana drawn, but Naruto was still standing there. After five more minutes, she asked, "Why won't you draw a blade?" Naruto sighed at her impatience and took out a scroll. He pursed through it for a moment then unsealed his desired weapon. It was a wooden boken. Then he placed his right hand behind his back. A vein pulsed on her head at what she believed was his form of taunting. "Fine! If that's how you want to play it, then let's play."

She shot off at high jonin speeds and went for a blow to his side. He jumped and whacked her hand, causing it to fly out of her grip, leaving her weaponless. "Sword fighting," he began, "is not about who is quicker nor who has more power. It is a dance. A dance of the blade. And whosoever missteps first, will be the one to die. Pick up your sword. We'll try it again."

She rubbed her wrist before doing as he said. They started again, with her staying a good distance away. "How will you ever get better if you don't attack? Tch, seems the Uchiha have spread their influence even from the grave." Before she could question what he meant, he took several steps in, allowing her to take a swing at him. He effortlessly dodged it and whacked her with the boken again. "In a dance, you want to lead it, not follow. By not taking the initiative, you allowed me to lead and I led you into my trap. Again!"

She decided to follow his advice and lead the fight. She took two steps to the right, and he copied. She moved forward and he moved back. Everything she did, he mirrored or followed. Having enough, she charged forward. He made to slash and she bent to the side. She made to thrust and he deflected. To a ordinary onlooker, it seemed a fierce duel. But to Naruto, he was the same as he was at the beginning.

"Come now," he said. "That can't be all there is to the 'famed' Konoha Kenjutsu Mistress." He dodged several blows as if it was nothing. "Or, perhaps it is. You make up for your lack of teachings with speed, hoping to for swift take down. But, what happens when you run into someone who matches or out paces you?" Her swings started to pick up speed and yet he had stopped moving. He stood perfectly still, except his left arm, which was blocking or deflecting the blows.

"It is clear to me now that you lack the proper education for this. But the blame isn't all yours. No, at least half of it goes to whoever taught you. Clearly they didn't know what they were doing half the time and, like you, relied on speed or strength to win the match."

Yugao's blows became sloppier the more he continued as she was trying everything she could to shut him up. "Don't you dare mock Kushina-sempai!" she roared. She went for a heavy downward swing. He side-stepped it, causing her to impale the katana in the ground. She huffed as her mind was clearing from her rage. That was when she noticed the boken placed at her collarbone.

"Dead." It was a simple statement that signified the end of the round. He stepped back to give her more space. "You are obviously a passionate person. You care greatly about your loved ones and take pride in what you do. However, you can be and are often ruled by your emotions and take things farther than needed. Don't shut off your emotions, but don't let them rule over you. You fell for my taunting about who trained you and about your skills. I suggest you meditate or do something to take your mind off of your life. Painting, sculpting, cooking, gardening are all good tips. I myself swim. It should be no more than an hour, but that is all you need." Having said his piece, he sealed the boken and walked away.

**End Flashback**

She had taken his advice and started to learn how to cook. This had many benefits. It helped to relax her, she was able to make home-cooked meals for Hayate, and she won't be totally clueless when they are stuck in the wilderness like last time. How was she supposed to know that pock-a-doted mushrooms made you loopy. She had gone back to him several times for suggestions on her form and executions. And each time, he helped her to improve to the point that she can defeat any sword wielder in Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire), except for Naruto.

Naruto didn't just help her. He had helped out both of his teammates. When it came to Yakumo, he took her on long walks and hikes around and through Konoha to further build muscle strength. For her drawings, he placed a restriction seal on her. It caused her to put in twice the effort to get the normal results, so that when he took it off, she'll be able to draw and react faster. He had also dealt with Ido. He didn't destroy it, he fused the two together with Yakumo on top. So now, she has full access to her powers and doesn't have to worry about them going out of control.

He enjoyed his time with Natsumi the most. Her bright attitude always made the world seem brighter to him. That doesn't mean he was any less harsh. To expand her knowledge and patience, he had her read a small encyclopedia. He would have her read, leave, come back after a bit, and summarize what she read. He also taught her politics because he knew you needed it when in office. It was taxing on the both of them. He also had given her a strict training regimen to follow and a ban on ramen for the month.

She had begged him, fully prostrating herself before him, to not take away her ramen. He stood firm in his decision and that caused her to not talk to him for three days. But the results showed. With her harder training and better diet, you could see the muscles starting to form. She wouldn't be bulky, but she would have that streamlined muscular build that showed definition without the bulging muscle. After the moth ended, he took her out for ramen, but made her promise to only have it once or twice a week, unless if it is a special occasion.

**Present**

Now here they were waiting for their sensei to arrive. She was unusually late and the girls started to worry. Naruto was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, clicking his tongue every ten seconds. What he was doing was sending out Sound waves laced with the tiniest amount of chakra he can as a form of echolocation. He had come up with this when the girls were complaining about how they were almost useless when blinded by the mist in Nami. He figured that if he should ever be blinded, he needed a way to move around without stumbling about.

He stopped when he 'saw' their sensei approaching. He opened his eyes as she arrived holding slips of paper. "Hello everyone," she said.

"You're late sensei," said the two girls. She chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah, I guess I am. But there is a reason for that. I signed you up for the chunin exams," she said as she passed out the papers. "They will start in two days at the academy. Be there at 8:00 a.m. See ya." Before they could question her on what the chunin exams were, she left. _'Chunin exams?'_ thought Naruto. _'What the hell is this all about?'_

Sadly, his question will have to wait to be answered as the girls thought they would spend some 'team bonding', aka, spend time with Naruto. They latched onto his arms and dragged him back to the village all the while sending glares at each other. It was when they entered the village that a problem arose. The villagers had noticed them and started to send hateful glares at Natsumi when the trios back was to them as they believed the 'demon bitch' was seducing the 'Last Senju'. Some of them were thankful that the 'Last Uchiha' was female so as to not be swayed by her 'charm'.

Naruto knew this was going on as he had trained himself to use echolocation, he has trained his ears to hear better at a longer distance by training with Inuzuka back during his fathers reign. His lips twitched downward. He can't do anything yet. All he needed was for some dumbass to attack Natsumi so he can get his point across to the civilians. He was more annoyed that civilians are allowed to get away with this behavior. Unfortunately, the civilians were wise enough to not attack Natsumi while he's around.

He was broken from his musings of how he is going to change things around the village when he was jerked to the right. He looked at down at Natsumi and Yakumo and sees them looking forward. Following their gaze, he sees a…guy wearing a cat costume and wearing make-up holding a kid by the scruff of his shirt. Then he noticed a nice looking girl with four pony tails telling the cat themed…guy to let the kid go.

"Hold on Temari," Catman said. "I need to teach this punk a lesson." He raised his fist and made to strike when Natsumi and Yakumo rushed forward.

"Hey!" yelled Natsumi, getting Catmans attention. "You better let him go."

"Or what," the masked vigi-Catman said. To prove his point the made to strike the kid when a rock sailed from the trees and struck him in the side of the face, causing him to let the kid go, who proceeded to run off with his two friends that had been watching anxiously. "Who the hell threw that?" he yelled while holding his cheek.

"I did," came a familiar voice to team eleven. Everyone looked up to the nearby tree to see Sayuri sitting there with a cocky smirk bouncing a rock in her hand. "Now, what are you going to do about it?" Catman growled at her and reached for the wrapped bundle on his back.

"Kankurou, you're using Crow? You know what will happen when she shows up," said the foreign blonde.

The now revealed Kankurou turns to her. "Don't worry Temari, I'll be done before she shows. I gotta teach these tree-huggers a lesson after all." He was stopped however when the area became bathed in 'light' bloodlust. The girls staggered and went wide eyed. They had this undeniable urge to turn tail and run. Naruto stood there, unaffected by it, and waited for this mysterious person to show themselves. Kankurou was the most affected as it was aimed at him.

"Kankurou, shut up or I'll kill you," came a gravel sounded female voice.

**Meanwhile in Mizu no Kuni**

A redhead woman with green eyes, supple lips, four bangs, long legs, and a sizeable bust all wrapped up in a shoulder less dress, looked up. "I wonder who is channeling me?" she asked to no one.

**Back To The Story**

"G-Gaea," said a trembling Kankurou.

They all looked to the source of the voice to see a redhead girl with an emotionless face and uncaring eyes standing upside down from a tree branch next to Sayuri. She disappeared in a **Suna-Shunshin (Sand Flicker Step)** and appeared in front of the now named Kankurou and Temari. "I apologize if these two were causing trouble. We'll be on our way." She turned to leave with her now cowed partners when…

"Hold it," said Sayuri. "Judging by your headbands, you're from Suna. So why are foreign shinobi here?" This caused the trio to turn to face her and raise flags for Natsumi, Yakumo, and Sakura. Naruto was still eyeing them.

"Don't tell me you don't know," said Temari. She sighed as she dug into her pocket and retrieved a slip of paper. "We're here for the chunin exams. Teams from all nations are coming, so you'll be seeing a lot more foreign shinobi." Sayuri and Sakura looked confused at what she said, but her explanation caused realization to dawn on team eleven.

'_So,'_ thought Naruto, _'The chunin exams allow teams from different countries to come here. And from the name, it is a test for those who wish to become chunin. I don't like this. There should be no reason for anyone to allow potential or actual enemy nin inside their village. What other stupid things have happened while I was gone?'_

"What is your name?" asked Gaea, breaking Naruto from his thoughts.

"I am Sayuri Uchiha," was said with arrogance laced in it.

"I'm Natsumi Uzumaki…"

"And I'm Yakumo Kurama…"

"And we're the female members of team eleven," both said at the same time.

"Not you," Gaea said, causing the girls to falter. "Him," she finished pointing at Naruto. Seeing little harm in it, he answered.

"Naruto Senju," he said, not breaking from his stance. Gaea perked up at the name while her teammates grew slightly worried at his proclamation. If he really was a Senju, then there was a possibility of him having a way to stop a bijuu. Gaea nodded and ushered for her teammates to follow. After they were left, Sayuri 'hn'd' and left, Sakura followed, and Natsumi and Yakumo continued on their day, Naruto being dragged by the two.

**Two Days Later**

Team eleven had entered the second story of the academy. They were greeted with the sight of a large number of chunin hopefuls trying to enter a room marked 301. They were stopped by an older pair of chunin. Naruto raised an eyebrow while sighing to himself. _'Standards have definitely dropped if they cannot detect a simple genjutsu.'_ He placed his hands on his teammates shoulders and guided them past the trap.

When they entered the actual room, a large KI slammed onto them. Natsumi and Yakumo went a little pale but otherwise fine while Naruto is again completely unaffected. Seeing his uncaring face caused quite a few teams to up their KI until Naruto responded with 5% of his own. It caused everyone, besides his teammates, to imagine themselves dying multiple gruesome deaths by his hands. At least half of the room were throwing up and choking on air. Only the more experienced were able to hold themselves together.

He scoffed and relented. After that, no one was willing to come close to his team and more importantly him. The door opened again and in walked all the contestants from the floor below. Naruto sighed again, knowing someone revealed it to them. Not long after that, team seven arrived with Sayuri being a bit banged up, but still had a cocky smirk. They noticed everyone was a bit on edge and assumed it was because they arrived. Except for Sai.

As the Konoha rookie teams were catching up and causing a lot of noise, Naruto noticed a silver haired genin approaching them. "Hey," he called out, "you guys should really tone it down. A lot of people here are already on edge and you do not want their attention on you." His statement caused them to stop their conversation and take a look at the room. Most of the rookies shied away from the killing intent while the more experienced were able to put up a tough face.

"Oh yeah? And who the hell are you?" asked Kiba to the silver haired genin.

"My apologies," he said. "My name is Kabuto and I am what you can call an expert in these exams. This will be my seventh try." While the rookies were either mocking him or feeling sorry for him, Naruto gave his full attention. _'I would say that the reason for that many tries would be because of the difficulty of the exams. But, from what I have viewed of today's ninja, that is a lie. So, he's either weaker than normal or he has a second adjective.'_

"Well, at least I learned something from my failures," Kabuto said. He reached into a separate kunai pouch and withdrew a stack of cards. "These here are my ninfo cards. They have the stats of everyone in this room, even you guys." This had caught the full attention of Sayuri as she turned to him.

"Everyone you say?" she asked. Kabuto nodded with an almost unnoticeable smirk that only Naruto caught. "Tell me of Rock Lee of Konoha, Gaea of Suna, and Naruto Senju of Konoha." Her proclamation, which she had made sure was loud enough for everyone to hear, had drawn everyone's attention. Many started to whisper on whether or not he was a Senju and if he is, that they needed to alert their jonin.

"Oh," mock pouted Kabuto, "you know their names. That takes all the fun out of it." He drew the first card and twirled it a bit while channeling chakra into it. "Ok, first up is Rock Lee of the Leaf. Says here that his teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuuga. They have completed 46 D-ranks, 10 C-ranks, and 1 B-rank mission. He has a disability that prevents the use of chakra, buts more than makes up for it with his skills in taijutsu. All in all, keep your distance."

"Next is Gaea of Suna. Her teammates are her siblings, Kankurou the puppeteer and Temari the wind mistress. They have completed 20 D-ranks, 15 C-ranks, and 2 B-ranks. Get this, it says she has never received so much as a scratch on these missions. I have nothing on her skills, unfortunately. Approach with caution." This had made a lot of the genin wary of Gaea who was still impassive.

"Last is Naruto Senju, also known as 'The Last Senju'. His teammates are Natsumi Uzumaki and Yakumo Kurama. They have completed 15 D-ranks, and a C-turned-A rank mission. He single handedly slaughtered over four hundred bandits when he broke into the mansion of Gato of Gato industries and at the now named Great Naruto Bridge and he didn't get a scratch as well. His nin-" He stopped when the card disappeared from his hand. They all looked around for it, only to find Naruto holding the card.

Without blinking he tore the card to pieces and scattered them. "You were saying?" he asked. Kabuto let out a nervous chuckle. But before he could answer, a plume of smoke erupted at the side with the blackboard. Everyone, once again, turned to see about twenty chunin and what they assumed to be this exams proctor. He was an intimidating man, standing at 6'3", he towered over almost everyone in the room. He wore a black bandana, combat boots, a long trench coat, black pants and a dark grey jacket underneath the trench coat. "Alright, sit down and shut up. The first exam has begun."

The chunin hopefuls, having already been scared by Naruto, quickly followed orders. "Okay, listen up and listen well, because I'm only saying this once. My name is Ibiki Morino and I'm your proctor. The first test is a written exam. There are ten questions, though the paper only has nine. I will get to that in a moment. There is a point system. Ten questions, ten points. If you answer wrong on a question that'll be one point off. There is to be no cheating. Every time you get caught, that'll be two points. Get caught five times and you and your team are out." A lot of people started to protest over this.

"I said shut up!" he yelled, silencing all protests. "Now as many of you have just asked, this is a team effort. That means one of you fails, you all fail. Got me? And if one of you can't answer a single question then you're all out. We have highly skilled chunin along the walls watching you, so we'll know if you cheat. Now…start!"

The room was filled with the sound of rustling paper as the contestants flipped their papers. The it was filled with the sound of scribbling. Naruto sat there with a finished sheet, deep in thought. _'This is odd. What's the meaning of the point system? These questions are considerably hard for today's genin, so most cannot hope to correctly answer these. But, it's what he said about cheating that's off. In any situation, if caught cheating, it's over. So why give that many chances? Unless, he wants us to cheat. That's his game. He wants to see if we can cheat without being caught.'_

Breaking from his thoughts, he looked around the room to see that others have already figured it out and were cheating in their own ways. He turned to his teammates to see how they were faring. Yakumo seemed to be doing alright. She had used one of her realistic genjutsu to hide the fact she had walked to someone that had finished and swapped their papers. But Natsumi was struggling. She seemed to be having a difficult time of it. He knew she would as soon as the test was revealed to be a written exam.

She had actually shown a surprising intelligence when it came to the battlefield, but outside of that, she was below average mentality. He sighed as he got up, walked over to her, swapped their papers, and sat back down. Everyone looked at him. "That can only be counted as cheating once for me and once for her." He quickly answered the sheet again as Natsumi beamed at him.

"No one else is allowed to do that," yelled Ibiki, stopping the teams that were starting to get up. As the time went on, the chunin started to call out random genin by numbers to leave. By the time the test was almost up a quarter still remained. "Pencils down," Ibiki said. "Okay, time for the final question. But, there are more rules that come with this. The first rule is that you have the option of whether or not you want to take the final question. However, if you choose not to take it then you automatically fail." The room erupted in yells of rage at the bullshit he was pulling.

He unleashed some of his KI to quiet everyone. "You didn't let me finish. If you choose to take the question and fail…you will never be able to become chunin." The room once again erupted into chaos. They screamed about how he couldn't do this. The entire time, Naruto sat there with a knowing smile. "I can and will be able to do this. I even received permission from your respective kages."

The room quieted at this. One by one, various genin raised their hands. Teams were leaving left and right. Naruto was content to see how long this would continue till he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Natsumi was raising her hand, slowly and wavering the entire way, but surely. He turned to her and caught her eye. He shook his head telling her silently to lower her hand. Her face contorted as she was having an internal debate on whether or not she should raise her hand, but decided against it.

Seeing the 'dead last' lower her hand gave resolve to the other Konoha rookies who steeled themselves. Noticing that the Leaf teams were staying the other teams decided to stay as well. When Ibiki saw this, he gave an unnoticeable smirk. _'Twenty-seven teams. Anko's going to chew my ass over this. But it seems no one else is going to move. Time to end this.'_

"For all of you who remained, you…pass." There was silence, then the expected spewing of questions that is really common in this exam. "Now most of you are wondering what the point of this was. It's simple. We wanted to test how good you are at information gathering. So we placed several hidden chunin among you having the answers. We wanted you to cheat and see how well you did. But not one chunin has all the answers. We needed you to differentiate what the correct answer was. There were nine chunin and each one knows three answers."

"The point of this was to determine who had the fortitude to look for the correct answers. For those that took the easy way out, they'll never become chunin on my watch. As chunin you are given a mission that could prove vital for your village. You do not get the option of refusing and looking for something easier next time. You take the mission and complete, no matter how little intel you have. But this also has a second meaning. While each chunin knew three correct answers, they answered the other six incorrectly. Remember, false information is worse than no information." Here he removed his bandana to reveal many scars on his scalp causing many genin to turn green.

"This is what happens when you rush in blindly with false information. But there will be times where you have to act on the intel you have, no matter the consequences. But those missions are few and far between." He placed the bandana back on. "Your next proctor will arri-"

He was cut off when a bundle smashed through the nearby window. A puff of smoke concealed the intruder. There was the thud of kunai impaling the walls. As the smoke cleared a large banner was seen and a woman in front of it. She was wearing a very provocative outfit. She was wearing a short mini-skirt, combat boots, a mesh shirt that did nothing to hide her figure, arm and shin guards, and a tan trench coat. She had brown, pupiless eyes and purple hair in a pineapple fashion.

"Alright, listen up kiddies," she yelled. "I am your second proctor the sexy and single Anko Mitirashi." The room was the quietest it's been since the exams started. Ibiki moved the cloth out of his face.

"Anko, your early…again," he deadpanned. She had the decency to rub the back of her head at what he said. Then she took notice of how many genin remained.

"Ibiki, are you getting soft? There are still twenty-seven teams left."

"We have a good bunch this year Anko."

"Well It won't matter soon. Because my test will be sure to cut this number by at least half." This had a lot of the chunin hopefuls to shift nervously. "Alright you lot. Meet me at training grounds forty-four in ten minutes or you're out." She left in a **shunshin **as the genin ran out as fast as they could.

Ten minutes later found everyone outside of a gated forest. "Welcome gakis to training ground forty-four, otherwise known as the Forest of Death."

**AN: How'd you like it? Good? Bad? Review. **

**Also, to whoever caught my mistake whne Sayuri said 'goodbye' to her family in Wave, I fixed it.**

**Next chapter is when we get back into the action.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Second Exam

**AN: I don't own anything. Not Naruto, not Gears of War, not even the pencil next to me. Very saddening. **

**Sorry for the long wait, I got lost on the road of life. Now on with the story.**

Chapter 7

"Welcome to training ground forty-four, otherwise known as the Forest of Death," said Anko. Most of the genin were filled with a sense of shock, awe, and fear. Shock and awe from the area being an actual forest and how big the trees were. Fear from the name. Nothing gets a name like that without a reason. "Okay listen up," continued Anko.

"You'll be going in here to make it to the tower located at the middle. You will have five days to avoid the wildlife and any opposing team. This is do or die people. Oh, and before I forget," she pauses to reach into her coat and retrieves two different scrolls. "These are your objectives. Each team will receive one and your goal is to get the other one and make it to the tower. The heaven and earth scrolls. Memorize them." She quickly stashed the scrolls away.

"be warned, you are not allowed to open the scroll(s) before you reach the tower. If you do, then…well it won't be pleasant. Now I need you to fill out a flier that states that should you die, the village and more importantly me won't be held accountable." She had the fliers passed out and signed in five minutes. "Alright, head to the booth and get your teams scroll and your gate number."

All teams complied to what she said. When all had their scrolls and stood before their respective gates the speakers went off. "Okay the exam will start momentarily. A word of advice, don't die." The alarm buzzed and the exam started. Everyone rushed into the forest, some having formulated their strategies, others having picked out specific targets and others having not a clue.

Team eleven were jumping along the branches at a slower than average pace per Naruto's orders. He figured with how ninja are in this time that most if not all take things at face value. The plan was simple, act weaker than normal. This was more difficult because of what was told of his slaughter. So he traveled at the front of the group at a large distance and make it obvious that one of the girls was carrying the scroll. Any opposing team will take the bait and attack the girls.

Sure enough, thirty minutes in, the girls were assaulted by a hail of kunai. Playing their parts well, they let themselves get cut a few times and acted startled and fearful. Three ninja from Kusa (Grass) appeared. "Well would you look at that," the apparent leader said. "Two weak tree-huggers lost without their leader. I bet he left you behind because you are so weak. Well it won't matter, because we'll be taking your scroll and your lives…after we've had our fun with you that is." The Kusa team laughed as the girls tried to hold back their anger. They had to wait for the right moment.

The enemy team approached with a confident gait, not noticing how Natsumi was reaching her hand back as she allowed Yakumo to move a bit in front of her. When they were three feet away. Yakumo quickly leaned to the left. Natsumi threw her kunai and caught each member either in the throat or left chest cavity. The three men died with shocked looks. Naruto immediately arrived afterwards. "Good job. You waited till they were close enough to not miss and allowed yourselves to act weaker than you are. Most people have to much pride to do such a thing and that will get them killed. Search the bodies for anything useful and the scroll."

The girls did as told, but the scroll was an earth scroll, the same scroll they already have. Naruto took the extra scroll and hid it in one of his many storage seals located on his armor. They continued on for the rest of the day, looking for another team that had a heaven scroll. That all changed when there was a massive spike of chakra about two clicks north by north-west of their position. "Follow me," Naruto said. He took off like a cannonball through the forest. The girls were startled by this and almost lost sight of him. They sprinted to catch up with him, but he kept a lengthy distance from them.

He stopped high up in the canopy of the forest and looked down. The girls appeared next to him slightly winded. "Why-why did you shoot off like that Naruto-kun?" asked Natsumi. He didn't say anything, just gestured for them to look down. They did so and came to a shocking sight. Team 7 was getting their asses handed to them by a kunoichi from Kusa. Sai was knocked out with his scroll that he carries around lied by his side torn to pieces. Sakura was on her knees with a scared shitless expression on her face as her body was wracked with tremors caused by her fear. Sayuri was the only one that wasn't lying useless. She was fighting, and failing, the Kusa kunoichi.

But that seemed to change when she activated her **sharingan**. "My, my. So this is the legendary bloodline of the Uchiha. The fabled **Sharingan**," the woman said. "Now," she licked her lips, "show me its power." She launched forward to deliver a strike to the sternum, but Sayuri smirked and seemed to vanish. She appeared underneath the woman and gave a rising kick to her stomach. She followed it up by jumping to meet the woman in the air and punched her in the jaw.

This sent the woman flying into a nearby tree. She slumped to the branch beneath her. As she started to rise, Sayuri appeared in a flourish and launched some shuriken at her. The woman jumped through the middle of the shuriken barrage and stood up with a confident smirk. It was wiped off her face when the shuriken came back and circled her. She came to the realization that they had ninja wire in the holes in the middle. They quickly snapped together and bound her where she stood.

She struggled a bit causing Sayuri to smirk. She went through a set of hand signs. "**Katon: Housenka (Mythical Fire Phoenix)**," she called. Flames erupted from her mouth and landed on the wires. They quickly traveled down the length and lit aflame the struggling woman. The woman let out a howl of pain as the fire consumed her. Slowly she slumped to the ground as the fire continued its work. Sayuri breathed a sigh of relief. Natsumi and Yakumo went to ask Naruto why he dragged them here if there wasn't anything big, but stopped when the area was filled with a mad chuckle.

Slowly, a figure seemed to melt from the tree. It was the Kusa woman. She laughed madly as she sees Sayuri's shocked expression. "Kukuku, marvelous. You have such potential," here her voice dropped a few octaves and became smooth as silk and as vile as a black widows bite. "Just like your brother." This change in voice and demeanor set Sayuri and their silent spectators on edge. But the comment about her brother drove everything from her mind. "What's wrong? Did I strike a nerve?" the 'person' taunted. Sayuri let out a yell and charged with a kunai raised.

This person chucled, grabbed her arm, and threw her at the tree where she hit with a resounding thud. She trembled from the pain that it invoked as she struggled to stand. "Such resolve," the person continued. "But you're no where near the level Itachi is." This drove her further over the edge. Ignoring the pain, she stood as straight as she could. She went through the Uchiha signature jutsu's hand signs.

"**Katon: Gokakyu (Great Fireball)**," she yelled. The fire raced towards her target with above chunin level speed. The person just swatted it away as if it were a fly. "Who are you?! How do you know Itachi?!" she all but screamed.

"Kukuku, I guess I've had my fill for now." The person reached up and grabbed the damaged skin of their face and peeled it back to reveal stark white skin, yellow, snake-like eyes with what looked like purple eye shadow that stretched past the tear duct down the nose, long black hair, and two earrings of some kind of symbol. "I am Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin." The girls were shocked at this revelation, but Naruto narrowed his eyes. Yes, he knew all about the infamous traitor of the leaf. He also knew of his experiments. What he wanted to know was why the man was here.

"Alas, our time grows short. I can already feel my failure of an apprentice making her way here. But before I go…" he trailed off. He flashed through some unique hand signs that elongated his neck to unbelievable proportions. His head shot forward and he bit into the stunned Sayuri's neck. She gave a howl of pain as what appeared to be three tomoe in a circular formation appeared. "When you realize that your power and hate are insufficient, you will find me. Enjoy my little present. That is, if you survive. Kukuku." With those final words, he sank into the foliage and disappeared.

Team eleven jumped down to the fallen team seven. "Naruto-kun, why didn't we help?" asked Natsumi. She was confused because as Orochimaru had started his jutsu, she went to attack, but Naruto held her back.

"You are not ready to deal with someone of his caliber. If I had allowed you to continue with your preemptive assault, you'd have alerted him to our position. And although I may be able to beat him, it wouldn't be that simple. He's an S-rank missing-nin for a reason. Our battle would have been wide spread, dealt with deadly attacks, and would have put you, Yakumo, and team seven in danger. I would be to focused on your safety and the results would be the same. He would have accomplished what he set out to do and still gotten away," he said.

Natsumi looked down at what he said. She knew it was true, but that doesn't mean she has to like it. "Now, Natsumi, pick up Sai, Yakumo pick up Sakura, and I'll carry Sayuri. I don't know what the mark means or does and I will not risk your safety. We'll head to the tower and ambush any teams along the way for our needed scroll."

"But Naruto-kun," started Yakumo, "what about team seven? Do we help them get their scroll?"

"Might as well. But it is a secondary objective. If we get their needed scroll, good, if not oh well. It is not our concern if they pass. What is, is that we do and that we get this mark on Sayuri-san checked out." The girls nodded at his reasoning and they continued their journey to the tower. Along the way, they ran into a few teams. One from Kumo, two from Kusa, one from Iwa, and three Konoha teams that thought they were easy pickings. When asked why he had taken out all those teams, Naruto responded that it would mean less opponents further on.

After one and a half days of travel like this, they reached the tower. They entered and dropped team seven on the floor. They had yet to awaken this entire time and Natsumi and Yakumo were tired from carrying them. Sakura shot up immediately. "Hey! Why'd you drop me. Next time you better put me down carefully or else." The team stared at her for a second before Natsumi growled in anger.

"Why you little self-centered, egotistic, bitch! You were awake this whole time, weren't you?" she questioned.

Sakura scoffed. "Of course. I can't travel in a place like this. My make-up would get ruined and my dress might have gotten torn and given some sick pervert like Naruto-baka here a free peep show," she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"I wouldn't dream of touching you in that way," Naruto said, "just like any normal man." That caused his teammates to bust a gut. Sakura fumed at him, but couldn't retaliate because he had turned away. "Now what does this mean?" he asked no one. The others that were still conscious neared him and looked at the board.

_If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are open together, the pair less path will become righteous forever. This *blank* is the secret way that guides us from this place today. _

"What does the blank mean?" asked Natsumi. The others shrugged in confusion.

"Maybe we're supposed to open the scrolls now," said Yakumo. Natsumi shrugged while Sakura was unsure, but she wasn't on their team. The girls opened the scrolls to reveal the kanji for human on it. Suddenly, the scrolls started to bulge. This shocked the two, making them release the scrolls that criss-crossed when they landed in an X formation. A puff of smoke, a random breeze that had no reason to be there in a closed building, and what was left was Iruka Umino.

"Hey there. Long time no see," he said.

"Iruka-sensei," shouted Natsumi as she launched forward and gave the man a flying tackle. He stumbled back a few steps from the unexpected hug, but started to laugh. "How? Why? Where?" she rambled off to the amusement of her teammates and Iruka.

"Now, now, calm down. I'm actually surprised you made it here so quickly. Especially you Sakura. Seeing as your team is unconscious makes me wonder on how you're here at all," he said.

She puffed up her chest and was about to say something about herself when natsumi beat her to the punch. "Oh that's easy. We carried them here. Naruto-kun thought it would be good because he said that as Leaf shinobi we are to look out and have the backs of our comrades. Or something like that."

Iruka nodded in approval. "Okay, well that's one thing down. Now onto the reason I'm here. I was assigned to greet you and tell you the secret behind the message on the wall. _If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher_. That means, if you lack knowledge then buckle down and study, Natsumi. _If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack_. That means if you lack in the physical aspect, Sakura, then train your body."

"_When heaven and earth are open together, the pair less path will become righteous forever_. This means when your body and mind are in synch then even a dangerous mission can become an easy one. Get it?" Natsumi, Yakumo, and even Sakura seemed that they understood. Naruto gave a nod knowing what he said was true.

"What about the blank spot sensei?" asked Sakura.

"That is for you to fill in. See that symbol on the scroll? It's the character for person, a reference to you chunin. You see these days of survival were to test your abilities as chunin and to see if you'd be any good at it. And I got to say, you guys really did magnificently. A chunin is a leader, a guide. It's a chunins responsibility to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of those serving under him. And to know what skills and training those men will need to succeed in a mission. And all of you passed. Well, that's it. That's all I'm supposed to say to you."

Before anyone could continue on this touching moment between sensei and student, Naruto stepped towards Iruka. "Thank you for explaining, but there is something I need to ask. While in the forest we came across the downed team seven with only Sayuri still standing against their opponent. It was Orochimaru of the sannin in disguise. He placed a mark on Sayuri's neck then left. That is the main reason why we helped team seven, but Natsumi is still correct. Do you know of what the mark is?"

Iruka stiffened as Naruto said this. "Not good. Crap, this can't be happening," Iruka said quickly. "Thank you Naruto for bringing this up. I need to get her to the medical bay and report this to Hokage-sama. The rest of you relax for the next few days till the end of the exam." Saying this, he picked up Sayuri and **shunshined** away. Naruto narrowed his eyes at this. He swore that he'll get the answers he wants before the third exam.

**A Few Days Later**

All the gather chunin hopefuls were gathered in a rectangular arena in the middle of the tower. In front of them at a higher tier of the arena, in front of a statue of two hands in the traditional ram sign, stood the Hokage and various jonin sensei's. They were all listening to the Hokage's speech about how the chunin exams were a medium for war and to promote peace between the nations. It also serves the purpose of boosting a countries clientele. Naruto frowned heavily at this. He understood promoting peace between nations, but this wasn't the way to it. He also snorted at how the exams are a representation for war. He fought in the first war and this had nothing on it.

He turned his attention back to the proceedings when they announced that there will be a preliminary round to cut down the number of combatants. When asked if anyone wanted to quit, he became suspicious when Kabuto quit. He watched as he talked with his teammates in a hushed tone. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to hear anything because at that moment Sayuri came through the doors from the med bay. This had caused the chunin hopefuls to let out 'joyous' greetings, gossip, or gasp at how she seemed to stagger with each step.

She finally stood at attention amongst her fellow chunin hopefuls. Sakura came up to her and tried to convince her to actually do the sensible thing and go back to the med bay. Sayuri started to argue back, till she finally got Sakura to stop. Naruto could see the proctor for the second exam, Anko if he remembered correctly, arguing with the other jonin. From what little he was able to hear, again thanks to all the chatter around him, Anko was saying that Sayuri shouldn't be allowed to fight, due to the mark placed on her by Orochimaru.

It seemed she lost once Hiruzen spoke up because she visibly deflated. When the proctor for the next exams showed, a rather sickly man by the name Hayate Gekko, he announced that the preliminary round was about to begin and only those whose names show up on the screen that was revealed when a wooden panel was lifted are to remain in the arena. The first match: **Sayuri Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado.**

Everyone but the two moved up to the stands to watch the fight. Sayuri's opponent wasn't someone that really stuck out in a crowd. But perhaps that's what he wanted. The only unusual thing about him was that he had two dark lenses in front of his eyes. He had a cloth that covered the lower half of his face. Other than that, he was plain. The two stood across from each other with Sayuri holding her neck where she was bitten and occasionally grimacing from pain.

The match started out as most expected, Sayuri dominating her opponent. She eventually had him lying on his back, her feet on his shoulder and side, and pulling on his arm. He chuckled, catching everyone's attention. His hand glowed a faint blue that was missed by most everybody and suddenly Sayuri's grip slackened. He raised his arm and brought it down hard on her stomach. He jumped up and away from her then launched forward when she sat up.

There was a faint cry of her name from Sakura and the next thing Sayuri knew was her opponents hand attached to her head. She screamed out in shock and a bit of pain. "W-what's happening? My chakra. What are you doing?" she asked as her arms slackened.

"Hahaha. You're only noticing it now?! Hahaha," he continued to laugh as he affected her chakra. "It's an ability of mine. I can suck out the chakra of my opponent and add it to mine. Hahaha!" Up in the stands, everyone was shocked at this news. Except Naruto who shook his head.

"Idiot," he muttered lowly. No one heard. Back at the arena, Sayuri had enough of this. She managed to muster up some strength and knocked Yoroi's hand away. She got back to her feet and had tried to make the Uchiha traditional jutsu. "**Katon: Goka-**," she had to stop when her mark activated. She clutched her neck in pain and it allowed her opponent to recover from his surprise. He chuckled as he approached her.

"So you're actually are as strong as they say. But that won't save you." He reached towards her again, but Sayuri was counting on this. She grabbed his hand and judo threw him away. He landed on his back with a surprised grunt. Sayuri attempted to use her jutsu this time and managed to succeed. "**Katon: Gokakyu (Great Fireball)**," she spewed forth the flames. This caught the surprise of the various jonin sensei's knowing how painful it must be with curse mark. The sound jonin smirked as the curse mark slowly started to spread.

Reinvigorated from the power the curse mark gave her, Sayuri attacked Yoroi. She did the same moves as someone known as Rock Lee had used on her earlier, before the exams. Naruto only knew this because he heard it from the horses mouth, aka. Lee complaing on the 'unyouthfulness' of the sharing an and Sayuri for using it to copy his hard earned work. Sayuri finished with what she dubbed as 'Lions Barrage' and knocked out her opponent. The proctor called it in her favor and Kazumi appeared behind her and **shunshined** away. Everyone turned to the screen to find out who would face off next.

Throughout the entire preliminaries, Naruto was staring at the fights with nothing but disgust. _'These genin think that they're ready for chunin? Pitiful. None of them, not one of them, except Natsumi and Yakumo, are ready for a promotion. If this is what the standards are today, then it's a wonder how any hidden village is still standing. Maintain the peace, prepare for war. Attack only if attacked. Words of conduct by tou-san and kaa-san. I may have to take the hat if just to bring us back to standards, __**my**__ standards.'_

What made him think as such was the pitiful performance by the others. The next fight was between Zaku Abumi and Hotaru Aburame. It was one of the few fights that showed at least some promise. Zaku had air tubes implanted in his arms that allowed him to blow out concentrated air waves. Deadly if trained properly and up close. Hotaru had used her logical mind and was able to plug the airways with her insects, Kikaichu, and this had the rather gory side effect of air popping holes in one arm to escape and completely blowing off the other.

Then was the fight between Misumi Tsurugi and Kankurou. Misumi had a jutsu that enabled him to use his body as if he didn't have any bones. When he snapped the neck of Kankurou, it was revealed that he was a puppet. Which should have been obvious because Suna has always been known for its puppeteers. Kakurou won the match when he had his puppet, dubbed Crow, snap the bones in his opponents body.

Now this next particular match got Naruto's blood boiling. It was Sakura vs. Ino. They were so pathetic that it wasn't even funny. They ended up knocking each other with a single blow. He had to grit his teeth because he was ashamed at this. He knew that every shinobi and kunoichi represents their village and fellow ninja. For them to be this pathetic really put Konoha in a bad light.

The fight between Temari and Tenten made him sneer. When it was revealed that her opponent was a wind user, a type disadvantage to Tenten, she stuck with throwing weapons. It was a no brainer. Her defeat was expected and he showed no remorse over it, going so far as giving a nod of slight respect to the Suna kunoichi, which caused her to blush and hurry along and earned him disapproving looks.

The sixth match actually made him pay attention. It wasn't filled with flashy jutsu, fancy moves, or a lot of taunting. No, this was an actual match. At least to him. It was Shika Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi. Kin had thrown senbon around her opponent into the opposing wall. Nothing happened at first till a faint bell ringing was heard. Shika had become disoriented and threw up some bile. Unfortunately, Kin ruined it by revealing her technique to everyone. Shika, using her clans infamous intelligence, had come up with a counter plan. She entrapped Kin in her shadow and made her bend back fast enough for Kin to hit her head on a wall and knock herself out.

Now that we are back up to speed, let's continue the story. The screen selected the next combatants. Natsumi Uzumaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka. "Arooohhh," howled the Inuzuka. "Yeah boy, we got an easy victory." He jumped down to the aren as if to prove something. Natsumi scowled, but then changed it to a grin. This was her chance to beat to a bloody pulp one her academy bullies that also tried to sexually harass her on more than one occasion. "Hey Natsumi-chan," said Kiba, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you. Then after I show you that I really am the alpha, you'll have no choice but to be mine."

Did she say beat to a bloody pulp? She meant a cruel, slow, agonizing death by castration. Or she lets him live as a woman. The match started with Kiba trying to goad her. But he ended up going on about himself. This allowed Natsumi to rush him and punch him in the nose, knocking him flat on his ass. As Kiba tired to recover, Natsumi descended on him with a flurry of punches and kicks, at least a fifth of them hitting him in the crotch. The proctor called the match when Kiba declared in high pitched voice, his surrender.

The eighth match is to be Yakumo vs. Neji Hyuuga. The jonin started to mutter about how they pity the girl. Naruto snorted. They weren't even close to knowing how skilled Yakumo is. Still, he was slightly worried for her. Neji had a track record of having a high amount of hatred for the main family in the Hyuugas and was prone to release it on the closest individual. He also was known to beat his opponents to the point that he ended several genins careers before they had even begun. He will step in if he saw it come to that.

The two stood across from each other. "Surrender Yakumo-san, for fate has decreed that I will win," said Neji. Yakumo didn't say anything, just took out her pad and drawing pencil. "Very well, then. You have made your choice," he said as he slid into the Jyuuken (Gentle Fist) stance. The match started as Neji raced at her with mid-chunin speeds. He struck at her tenketsu (chakra points) disabling her swift and fast. The proctor was about to call the match when the sound of glass breaking was heard.

Yakumo shattered into many fragments that then became dust. Everyone blinked or gasped. Neji stood there dumbfounded. Yakumo rose from the ground like a certain plant man. Then another Yakumo melded from the wall. Another and another showed up till he was completely surrounded. "W-what?" He cursed himself for stuttering.

"You don't understand?" questioned one Yakumo. "Then I will explain," another continued. "You are trapped in my world Neji-san," the first one said. "I control what happens."

"I will torture you till you give."

"You will not win."

"For now, I am Kami."

**At A Random Location**

Itachi Uchiha suddenly looked up from his nail polishing, making it run on his hands. _'I feel as though someone has stolen my thing,'_ he thought. He then noticed what he just did. A twitch formed in his eyebrow. _'Whoever you are, I will find you, and I will kill you for this'_. His eyes transformed to their Mangekyo state.

"Itachi!" came the voice of his partner, Kisame Hoshigaki, the Monster of the Hidden Mist. "We're out of food and the pocky is all gone."

"Kisame, we have a vital mission that we need to accomplish. We. Cannot. Fail." he said with the utmost seriousness.

"What is it? A bandit camp we need to take care of? Some missing nin?"

"More important. We need to make a trip to the store." Kisame face vaulted. "I will write a list of what we need. We live in twenty minutes." _"I will deal with whoever ripped me off later. For now, I must retrieve my precious pocky.'_

**Back To The Exams**

Neji panicked and it showed on his face. He had tried activating his **Byakuugan (White Eye)**, but nothing happened. He started to spin and release chakra from all his tenketsu. **Kaiten (Palms Revolving Heaven)**," he yelled. A dome of chakra erupted out and caught Yakumo flat footed. She was caught in it and flung against one of the walls and slumped to the floor.

Neji panted from the waste of chakra. Then he realized his mistake. He quickly became enraged and moved in on the struggling to rise Yakumo. "You bitch! You caused me to reveal one of my aces. For that you will suffer," he yelled as he made to attack her. He was stopped when a hand clamped on his wrist. He looked to the side to see it was Naruto. Surprised, he wasn't prepared for when Naruto flung him across the room. The proctor called the match in Neji's favor for Naruto's interference. Naruto paid it no mind and just focused on helping Yakumo. He may be a one cold son of a bitch to his enemies and those he dislikes, but Yakumo wasn't one of either category and she actually grew on him.

Everyone waited for the two to get back up to the stands before turning back to the monitor. Naruto Senju vs. Hinata Hyuuga. Naruto walked calmly down as Hinata hesitated for a few seconds, took a glance at Natsumi, then followed. As they stood across from each other, Hinata was taking multiple glances up to the balconies where Natsumi and her team were. "Focus on me, not the balcony," Naruto said. Hinata 'eeped' at being caught, though she wasn't exactly stealthy.

The match began but neither competitor moved. "What are you doing here?" asked Naruto. Before she could ask to further explain, he continued. "You obviously lack what it takes to be a kunoichi. Your eyes tell me everything I need to know. You lack the will to deal bodily harm on anyone, yet you are here. It leads me to wonder, why are you here? Why are you actually here?"

"I-I'm here t-to prove th-that I am n-not weak," she said hesitantly.

Naruto sighed at her answer. "No, you are not." His response caused everyone to either question what he meant or, in the case of close friends, mainly women, to glower at him. "Your answer just proved that. You hesitated in your answer. You yourself don't believe it. Yet you believe everyone here to believe it. You are not here through any choice of your own. Tell me now, why did you really come here?"

Hinata seemed conflicted. Eventually, she seemed to cave in on herself. "I-I came b-because t-the el-ders said th-they would…they would…" she trailed off, not being able to say whatever it was she needed to say.

"What? What would the elders do if you didn't attend?" Naruto asked. "Say it. Don't hesitate."

"They said they would brand me and put me in the branch house!" Hinata shouted in a rush. She breathed heavily, then gasped not believing she actually said it. Most of the genin gasped as well. Not only at her explanation, but that Hinata actually shouted.

"Surrender," Naruto said.

"W-what?" Hinata asked.

"I said surrender. It is clear that you were forced to come, meaning that you don't believe that you should be here. If you don't believe that you should be here, then leave," he said. Hinata was struggling with herself now. She debated on whether or not to agree with him. "You have no chance as a ninja with your current mindset. What you need to do," here he pauses to look at the balconies, "what you all need to do is ask yourself, now, is this what I want to be? Is this the life I want? Do I believe it is? Why am I here? These are the questions that you all need to answer. Not your family, not your village, not your peers, you."

This had earned him the respect of the older generation of ninja. He has blatantly demanded that all genin ask the hard questions. But the younger generation were having a hard time coming to grips with what he said without trying to retaliate in one form or another. As in, some snorted and turned away, others scoffed with a cocky smirk, some even flipped him off. But Naruto was only paying attention to Hinata and his teammates.

Natsumi seemed to take his questions to heart as did Yakumo and both were asking themselves the questions he stated with bowed heads, their lips moving imperceptibly. After a few moments, they raised their heads with a defiant gaze and steeled eyes. He nodded in satisfaction. _'Good, they have shown that they do belong here. Only those that can ask and answer the questions will remain in the long run. Everyone has to answer them eventually. Even those that don't believe they do. But now it is time to see if the Hyuuga shall answer.'_

Hinata shakily raised her arm and forfeited. This elicited many sighs of relief or disappointment. Naruto shook his head and walked away. Hinata followed up to the stands to stand by her team with tears in her eyes. Her teammates and sensei gave her sympathetic looks, a comforting hug/pat on the back, or words of encouragement.

The final match was between Subaku no Gaea and Rock Lee. Lee was an interesting fellow for his choice of clothing, his exuberance, and the fact he mentioned something about youth every other ten words. When the match started, Lee shot off at surprising speed, taking the use of surprise to his advantage by leveling a heavy kick to her side. She hit the opposing wall and got back up with cracks along her skin.

As it turns out, she had a layer of sand that covered her skin for extra protection. Unfortunately, this had awoken her bloodlust as she tried everything in her power to kill him. Lee ended up being forced to remove his weights, then reveal his final trump card, the hidden gates. Lee had her on the ropes, but his body couldn't withstand the sheer power that flooded it with the activated gates. He ended up being caught and having his left limbs crushed. He was saved by the timely arrival of his sensei. Gaea was announced the winner and all winners were told to meet in the arena.

They each drew a number from a box carried by Anko. The number would signify who they would fight in the third exams. The matches are as follows: Natsumi Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga, Subaku no Gaea vs. Sayuri Uchiha, Hotaru Aburame vs. Subaku no Kankurou, Shika Nara vs. Subaku no Temari, Naruto vs. winner of match four. Everyone was told to train for the last exam in one month. As they left, everyone knew that in one month, possibly everything will change.

**AN: So how'd you like it. Sorry for not a lot of fights, I jut saw it as redundent when most of the matches are the same. **

**Review!**


	8. Not a Chapter Sorry

Sorry

AN: Sorry everyone, but this is not an update. This is a message to tell you all that enjoy reading my fics that I unfortunately will not be updating any of them for the next 2+ months. I am shipping out today to boot camp and will not have access to a computer. Even if I did, I doubt I would have enough time to actually type out a chapter.

I had planned on updating one last chapter, but for the past two weeks it has been constant preparing and celebrating and I never got any time to continue. I thank you for your patience and hope you're looking forward to the day I return.

Wish me luck, Swordswolf out.


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